Generative Experiences
Perhaps the most exciting frontier opened up by Apple Intelligence is the ability for apps to go beyond querying structured data and into true generative experiences powered by advanced AI models.
Imagine a user wanting to improvise their own recipe creation based on some key ingredients they have on hand. With traditional data models, this would be quite difficult, forcing users to manually piece together information from various recipe data points. By adopting Apple Intelligence, Chef Cooks could provide an experience like, “Hey Siri, I want to make a pasta dish with chicken, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes.” Rather than finding some matching recipes, Siri would leverage its understanding of Chef Cooks’ ingredient and recipe entities to dynamically generate a completely new pasta recipe tailored to that request! And that would all be generated in real-time based on Siri’s comprehension of the app’s data models and its powerful generative AI capabilities.
Chef Cooks could be taken even further by training a custom AI model specifically tuned for the cooking domain. Using Apple’s support for privately personalizing generative models on-device, the app could construct hyper-tailored recipe ideas by learning each user’s personal preferences, dietary restrictions, cooking skill levels, etc.
The possibilities are virtually endless — from auto-generating grocery lists based on refrigerator inventory data to intelligent meal-planning based off individual nutritional goals and eating habits. Apple Intelligence has the potential to make virtually every aspect of Chef Cooks an intelligent, predictive experience.
Prioritizing Privacy and Responsibility
Of course, one can’t talk about Apple without talking about security. As transformative as features like App Intents and Apple Intelligence are, they also carry substantial weight in terms of privacy, security and ethical development requirements.
Apple has been very clear that its generative AI must be developed responsibly, with key priorities including protecting user data, privacy, and providing transparency. Chef Cooks and any app leveraging these technologies must have robust controls and intentional safety practices in place. User data can only be accessed with explicit permission. Generative AI responses must be filtered for potentially unsafe outputs. The overall app experience should be thoughtfully balanced.
In addition to upholding AI ethics, developers adopting App Intents and Apple Intelligence also need to be mindful about properly transitioning existing app functionality. Apps with prior SiriKit integrations will need to carefully migrate those over to App Intents-based models to avoid breaking current Siri capabilities.
The same applies to any app shortcuts or automation built with the older App Intents framework. Apple recommends a thoughtful deprecation strategy that preserves functionality during the transition and gives user ample notice about any changes that might affect their personal app integrations and custom shortcuts.
Where to Go From Here?
There’s no denying that Siri, the App Intents framework, and Apple Intelligence represent a leap forward for intelligent, context-aware app experiences. Siri is finally being let out of its constraints, given the models to deeply understand and collaborate with the apps and services people use daily.
Developers now have the tools to construct intelligent experiences to elevate users’ experiences. With these tools, Siri is ready to be our highly capable, personal best friend with boundaries and security backing it. The future of human-computer interaction has arrived, and it’s just the beginning.
If you want to dive into Siri and App Intents, watch these two videos: Bring your app to Siri and Bring your app’s core features to users with App Intents. Happy WWDC!
