THE BBC has complained to Apple after its artificial intelligence tools provided inaccurate summaries of its headlines to users on its newest iPhones.
A complaint was lodged to the tech giant last month after the AI-powered features inaccurately summarised a news alert about Luigi Mangione – the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson – saying he had shot himself.
Last week the tools, known as Apple Intelligence, inaccurately summarised a collection of BBC Sport headline notifications, claiming Luke Littler had won the World Darts Championship Final hours before it began, and that Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.
The tool is meant to provide users with a quick summary of notifications they may have missed, using AI to create a short overview of multiple notifications sent out by individual apps.
Apple confirmed it will update its artificial intelligence tools “in the coming weeks”, adding that the summarisation feature was optional for users.
In a statement, the tech giant said: “Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback.
“A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarisation provided by Apple Intelligence. We encourage users to report a concern if they view an unexpected notification summary.”
In a statement on Monday, the BBC said: “These AI summarisations by Apple do not reflect – and in some cases completely contradict – the original BBC content.
“It is critical that Apple urgently addresses these issues as the accuracy of our news is essential in maintaining trust.”
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Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) warned that faulty artificial intelligence tools only contribute further to online misinformation and are “causing harm to journalism”.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said: “Apple must act swiftly, removing Apple Intelligence to ensure it plays no role in contributing to the misinformation already prevalent and causing harm to journalism online.
“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.
“Editorial integrity is crucial to our public service broadcaster and AI generated summaries falsely attributing information, risk harm to the reputation of journalists reporting ethically.
“We will continue to engage with the BBC supporting their concerns about Apple's feature, whilst making clear our calls to Apple for action that goes beyond an update to Apple Intelligence.”
Generative AI tools have been rolled out by many of the major smartphones manufacturers and wider tech firms over the last year, and Apple is not alone in having issues with the content generation technology.
Google’s various AI tools have been criticised for a range of erratic responses, including issues with accuracy in some cases when using the AI Overviews feature in its search engine, and for inaccuracies in historical-based images generated by its AI-powered image creation tool.
