Apple finally unveiled its answer to the AI revolution at WWDC 2024 with “Apple Intelligence,” a suite of features coming to iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This marks a significant shift for Apple, a company that previously shied away from the term “artificial intelligence” altogether.

Get ready for a more conversational Siri. Apple Intelligence empowers Siri with the ability to take actions across apps, manage notifications, write things for you automatically, and summarize text in Mail and other applications. Similar to other AI writing assistants, you can adjust the tone of your writing with simple prompts.

Siri also gains “onscreen awareness,” allowing it to understand what you’re looking at and take action within various apps, including third-party ones. Additionally, you’ll no longer be limited to voice commands; you can type your requests to Siri as well.

As expected from Apple, privacy remains a top concern. The company emphasizes that many features will function entirely on your device whenever possible. For more complex requests, your device will automatically connect to the cloud using “Private Cloud Compute.” These cloud servers are powered by Apple’s own silicon chips, and Apple assures users that their data will never be stored or accessed on these servers. For added transparency, Apple will allow independent experts to examine the code running on these servers to verify privacy measures.

Tired of the same old emoji? Apple Intelligence introduces “Genmoji,” a feature that generates custom emoji-like reactions on the fly. Feeling artistic? “Image Playground” is a new image generation feature that lets you create unique images within various apps or its dedicated app. Developers can even integrate Image Playground into their apps using a provided API.

The Photos app also receives an AI upgrade. You’ll be able to search for even more specific details within your photo library, like a person doing cartwheels. Apple is also adding features similar to Google’s Magic Eraser, allowing you to remove unwanted objects from photos.

Apple confirms its partnership with OpenAI. Later this year, GPT-4o powered ChatGPT will be integrated into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS as a chatbot that Siri can consult when it can’t answer your request. Apple assures users that their permission will always be sought before sending any questions, documents, or photos to ChatGPT. Siri will then present ChatGPT’s answers alongside its own. While Apple starts with the “best chatbot,” they plan to support other AI models in the future.

ChatGPT will also be accessible within the systemwide AI writing tools, can be used for image generation, and anonymizes user IP addresses. OpenAI won’t store user requests either. Notably, you won’t need to create an account or pay to use the basic features of ChatGPT; however, subscribers can connect their accounts to access paid features within the built-in integrations.

It’s important to note that Apple Intelligence won’t be available to everyone. Currently, only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, iPads and Macs with M1 or later chips, and devices set to US English will be eligible. The features are expected to roll out gradually starting this fall with iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.