Apple to Update AI Feature After Controversial Inaccurate News Alerts

Apple announced it would update its AI feature in the next few days after users received inaccurate news alerts—such as AI-generated summaries saying that Luigi Mangione had shot himself or that the tennis player Rafael Nada came out as gay.

The BBC filed a complaint last month after the new AI feature suggested that the news publication had announced the false statement about Mangione. The tech giant finally addressed the issue this Monday.

According to the BBC, multiple publications and organizations—including journalists from ProPublica and Reporters Without Borders (RSF)—have been affected and expressed their concerns to the tech company.

“These AI summarisations by Apple do not reflect – and in some cases completely contradict – the original BBC content,” said the BBC yesterday.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said that the tech company should remove Apple Intelligence and the RSF considered the AI feature “too immature.”

“At a time where access to accurate reporting has never been more important, the public must not be placed in a position of second-guessing the accuracy of news they receive,” said Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary.

Apple said they will fix the issue and that the update should arrive “in the coming weeks,” and encouraged users to report inaccuracies and concerns as the feature is still in beta mode in the United Kingdom.

“It just transfers the responsibility to users, who – in an already confusing information landscape – will be expected to check if the information is true or not,” said Vincent Berthier, head of RSF’s technology and journalism desk.

In May 2024, Google’s AI overview also earned an embarrassing reputation after the technology provided inaccurate information and its “funny” results went viral on social media.