On Wednesday, Apple releasing new updates for iPhone, iPad and Mac that bring a long-awaited feature to Apple products: direct access to OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Now, if a user asks Siri a complicated question that the voice assistant can't answer, Siri will ask if it can send the question to ChatGPT. If the user says yes, Siri will bring up the ChatGPT response directly on the iPhone screen and say, “Here is a response from ChatGPT.” The User must not navigate to ChatGPT on their own; their questions answered directly on the iPhone.
Apple users can access the feature without creating a ChatGPT account. Apple says OpenAI won't store their questions or use their data for training purposes.
ChatGPT will also have functionality outside of Siri. The new Compose feature allows users to generate chatbot images that are tailored to their writing. For example, they can ask ChatGPT to “add a magical impressionistic image” to a bedtime story.
The new updates are called iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2.
Write with ChatGPT. Credit: Apple
This is the first time Apple has integrated a third-party chatbot with AI into the iPhone as part of Apple Intelligence. there are rumor that Apple will partner with other companies to add other AI chatbots to its products in the future, including Google for its Gemini chatbot.
Apple first announced ChatGPT integration in June as part of a collection of AI features called Apple Intelligence.
At the end of October, Apple released it the first update of Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1. The previous update introduced AI writing assistance that could rewrite text to take on a “friendly,” “professional” or “concise” tone, as well as a Siri that could understand more context.
What is the difference between Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT?
Apple Intelligence refers to the set of AI features that Apple has brought to its products, including writing tools and a redesigned Siri. iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max lineup only are acceptable for Apple Intelligence updates.
ChatGPT is the AI chatbot from OpenAI that has been completed 300 million users per week.
A connecting aspect between ChatGPT and Apple Intelligence is that with iOS 18.2, Apple Intelligence now taps into ChatGPT for Siri and typing assistance.