Apple has temporarily disabled its Apple Intelligence notification summaries feature for some apps following criticism over errors in news headline summaries. The feature, which was introduced with the iOS 18.1 update, was designed to condense notifications into easily digestible summaries for users, helping them quickly scan through key details. However, the AI tool behind the feature has faced backlash after it inaccurately summarized news notifications. One notable incident occurred when the AI misrepresented a Washington Post news notification, drawing criticism from both users and the publication.
The issues didn’t stop there, as in December 2024, the BBC raised concerns with Apple about the feature generating incorrect summaries. The BBC’s complaint centered around a summary that inaccurately suggested a person named Luigi Mangione, who had been convicted of the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, had committed suicide. This error led to widespread concerns about the reliability of the feature, particularly when it comes to handling sensitive and important news stories. As a result, Apple decided to temporarily disable the notification summaries to address these issues before they reintroduce the feature with improvements.
The Apple Intelligence notification summaries feature, which was an opt-in addition for iPhone users, had been aimed at improving the notification experience by presenting summaries of notifications from selected apps. Users had the ability to choose which apps’ notifications would be included in the summary, offering greater control over the information they received. However, as the feature was rolled out to eligible devices, reports surfaced of it delivering inaccurate information, particularly in news app notifications. This raised questions about the accuracy of AI-generated summaries, especially for users who rely on notifications for timely and factual updates.
Apple has acknowledged the concerns and is reportedly working to resolve the issues with the AI tool. The temporary disabling of the feature reflects the company’s commitment to fixing the errors and ensuring that it can reliably summarize notifications without compromising accuracy. Once the problems have been addressed, Apple plans to re-release the feature to the public, potentially with improvements that will better handle the complexities of summarizing news content and other notifications.
