Apple is facing criticism from the BBC after its new AI-powered iPhone feature, Apple Intelligence, generated misleading headlines about a high-profile murder case in the US.
Launched in the UK earlier this week, Apple Intelligence uses artificial intelligence to summarize and group together information for users. However, the system incorrectly summarized a BBC News article, making it appear that Luigi Mangione, the man arrested in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York, had shot himself.
The headline read, “BBC News: Luigi Mangione shoots himself,” a claim that was false.
#AppleIntelligence – New AI feature on Apple phones – effectively took a BBC News story and broke it as a headline story. BBC is not happy with this. pic.twitter.com/JBsueLAimA
– Back to BBC?????????????????? (@back_the_BBC) 13 December 2024
A BBC spokesperson confirmed that the corporation has contacted Apple to resolve the problem. “BBC News is the world’s most trusted news media,” the spokesperson said. He said it was important to maintain confidence in the journalism published in the BBC name.
Despite the error, the rest of the AI-powered summary, which included updates on Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and the overthrow of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, was reportedly accurate.
The BBC is not alone in facing misrepresented headlines due to technology.
A similar issue occurred in November when Apple Intelligence grouped three unrelated New York Times articles into a single notification, one of which incorrectly read, “Netanyahu arrested,” instead of the actual arrest of the Israeli prime minister. There was a reference to the International Criminal Court warrant for Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ,
Apple AI notification summaries are still pretty bad
(image or embed)
– Ken Schwenke (@schwanksta.com) November 22, 2024 12:52 am
Apple’s AI-powered summary system, available on iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and later devices running iOS 18.1 or higher, is designed to reduce notification overload, allowing users to prioritize important updates Can. But concerns have been raised about the reliability of the technology, with Professor Petros Iosifidis of City University in London calling the mistakes “shameful” and criticizing Apple for rushing the product to market.
This is not the first time that AI-powered systems have been wrong. In April, X’s AI chatbot Grok was criticized for falsely claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already lost the election.
seriously @Elon Musk,
PM Modi was expelled from the Government of India. This is the “news” that Grok has prepared and given the “headlines”. 100% fake, 100% imaginary.
does not help @XPretending to be a reliable alternative news and information source. @Help @amitmalviya @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/lIzMSu1VR8
– Sankrant Sanu Sanu Sankrant Sankrant (@Sankrant) 17 April 2024
Google’s AI Overviews tool also made bizarre recommendations, like using “non-toxic glue” to stick cheese to pizza and advising people to eat one rock per day.
