Apple Faces Criticism Over Faulty AI News Summaries

Apple is under increasing scrutiny over its AI-powered notification summarization tool, Apple Intelligence, after a series of errors caused misinformation to spread.

The feature, designed to condense breaking news into alerts for users, has been criticized for generating entirely false claims, leading to calls for its withdrawal. The BBC, among the first to report inaccuracies, highlighted incidents where Apple’s AI summaries misrepresented its news content.

One instance falsely claimed a man accused of killing a UnitedHealthcare CEO had shot himself. Another, reported by the BBC, inaccurately stated that Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay. In a new article, the BBC described these errors as damaging to trust in news, and called on Apple to address the inaccuracies urgently.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) echoed the BBC’s concerns, demanding Apple remove the tool to prevent further misinformation. NUJ General Secretary Laura Davison emphasized the critical need for accurate reporting, stating that misleading AI-generated content undermines public trust.

“Editorial integrity is crucial to our public service broadcaster and AI generated summaries falsely attributing information, risk harm to the reputation of journalists reporting ethically, ” she stated in the NUJ press release.

RSF labeled Apple’s planned updates to clarify AI-generated notifications insufficient, arguing that the burden of verifying information should not fall on users, as reported by the BBC.

Apple responded to the BBC after several weeks, stating it would address the issue. Apple also has defended the feature, noting that Apple Intelligence is in beta and optional for users. Instead of committing to improve notification summaries, Apple told the BBC it will clarify when AI is used to generate them.

Alan Rusbridger, former Guardian editor and member of Meta’s Oversight Board, criticized Apple for releasing an unpolished product, warning of its potential to worsen the misinformation crisis. He described the technology as “out of control” and unfit for public use, as reported by the BBC.

The BBC reports that a Google spokesperson described the issues as “isolated examples,” asserting that the feature generally performed well. Gizmodo further notes that it’s unclear how Apple will indicate when a notification is summarized. Currently, the app’s official icon appears next to summaries.

To clarify, Apple could replace the app’s icon—like the BBC’s—with Siri’s icon when summarizing notifications. However, this might not be sufficient, as novice users may struggle to understand the distinction, as noted by Gizmondo.

While Apple’s fix may not fully address concerns, Gizmondo suggests that users can deactivate the feature by going to Settings -> Notifications -> Summarize Notifications, where they can turn it off or adjust which apps use it.