How Apple is trying to normalize always-on AI

Apple does seem to have tried to ensure its controversial Audio Intelligence feature isn’t abused. Alongside the iPhone Duo and new iPhone 18 Pro range, Apple on Wednesday introduced a new Apple Watch equipped with a brand new feature it calls Audio Intelligence. The existence of this surprising tool was confirmed only on the eve of the launch event. Enabled by the new S11 chip on the latest Watch devices, this is actually a collection of four features: Siri Recap, which creates high-level summaries of conversations during your day. Live Rewind, which transcribes the previous 15 seconds of a conversation as text. Music recognition, which relies on Shazam. Sound recognition, which can identify things like sirens or alarms. All of these features must be consciously enabled by the user and are not on by default. What they have in common is use of artificial intelligence along with always-on microphones. While all four of these tools are being presented as opt-in, their existence will inevitably — and justifiably — raise privacy concerns. Apple saw those concerns coming, and to make the features work it has placed a Secure Enclave on the S11 chip inside the latest watches. This is a d…

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