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The recently presented ChatGPT apps are what Apple Intelligence (and Siri) should've been. Some chat/voice interface, that can access data from installed apps a

by andix 1y ago

The recently presented ChatGPT apps are what Apple Intelligence (and Siri) should've been. Some chat/voice interface, that can access data from installed apps and trigger actions. It should've been a home run for Apple. ChatGPT starts with zero existing apps, Apple has one of the biggest app ecosystem, and with (Siri) Shortcuts they already have most of the necessary interfaces available for years.

SV_BubbleTime 1y ago
Apple still has an ultimate advantage. They have your context. OpenAI doesn’t know where you are. It doesn’t know what you bought or when you last called your wife, it can’t know your heart rate or your work schedule. Apple can turn it around. Great AI is a good model with lots of context. Your model can be the best, but if you need the user to provide the context it’ll never be a great experience. After working with Claude code for a while now, I’ve become much more aware of how to convey context to a machine, and just how poor some humans are at doing it in conversation. Your AI product is toast if you need people to make it work.
- andix 1y ago
  Yes, Apple still has the advantage over OpenAI. But OpenAI can also release some iOS and Android integration layer, that allows to connect with installed apps on the device. If Apple doesn't get their act together with the next iOS release, it could be too late.
  - deaux 1y ago
    OpenAI can't, they're completely dependent on Apple and Google permitting such a thing. Unless you have a particular way in mind they could currently achieve this?
    - SV_BubbleTime 1y ago
      This is what I was getting at. Permissions in an app are one thing, but if Apple or Google wanted to they could go way deeper.
    - andix 1y ago
      They can integrate into third party apps, if the publishers want to. A lot of them are going to do it. It's already possible to connect Gmail, and many other services, this can extend even more. The connection of those services could be done by the iOS/Android apps.
      - deaux 1y ago
        I doubt this will be super successful because so many of the apps that people would want to integrate it are those made by Apple, Google, Meta and others whose goal is to be a direct competitor. I might be wrong though, we'll see.
foldr 1y ago
I think this will be an Apple Maps situation. Embarrassing initially, but a few years later, there’ll be a perfectly usable product.
- kasabali 1y ago
  the whole maps debacle was a plot against Forstall
  - foldr 1y ago
    A 'plot'? That must be some kind of weird online conspiracy theory. Apple Maps worked poorly on initial release for reasons that are entirely unmysterious (the lack of comprehensive and accurate geographical data). Forstall was of course fired as an eventual result of this, but the idea that the whole PR disaster was engineered as part of a scheme to oust him is just daft.
- tssva 1y ago
  I still find Apple Maps to be awful. It consistently gives poor directions. For example the exit you need to take from the closest major road to reach my neighborhood splits once you are on it. If you continue straight you reach a stop light where you can then take a left and then continue 1/8th of a mile to the turn for my neighborhood. Apple Maps will instead have you go to the right when the exit splits and then have you continue another 1/2 mile before taking a u-turn and heading back the 5/8ths of a mile to turn into my neighborhood. Google Maps does the right thing. I now warn visitors to use Google Maps or to ignore these directions from Apple Maps. I also live near a large city and a couple of smaller cities with busy downtown areas. In each of them the main streets are virtually impossible to perform a u-turn on because of the large amount of traffic. Apple Maps will insist on giving directions which involve taking u-turns on these streets. Google Maps will instead route you the easier way around the block instead of insisting on an impossible u-turn which in the end is slower because of the difficulty in actually performing the maneuver. Also I find the directions from Apple Maps when taking an exit which further splits into multiple exits to be highly confusing. The spoken directions from Google Maps is much better in these circumstances. Every new release I try Apple Maps again just to see if it has gotten better in these circumstances and every release I am disappointed.

by andix 1y ago

SV_BubbleTime 1y ago

Apple still has an ultimate advantage. They have your context. OpenAI doesn’t know where you are. It doesn’t know what you bought or when you last called your wife, it can’t know your heart rate or your work schedule. Apple can turn it around. Great AI is a good model with lots of context. Your model can be the best, but if you need the user to provide the context it’ll never be a great experience. After working with Claude code for a while now, I’ve become much more aware of how to convey context to a machine, and just how poor some humans are at doing it in conversation. Your AI product is toast if you need people to make it work.

andix 1y ago
Yes, Apple still has the advantage over OpenAI. But OpenAI can also release some iOS and Android integration layer, that allows to connect with installed apps on the device. If Apple doesn't get their act together with the next iOS release, it could be too late.
- deaux 1y ago
  OpenAI can't, they're completely dependent on Apple and Google permitting such a thing. Unless you have a particular way in mind they could currently achieve this?
  - SV_BubbleTime 1y ago
    This is what I was getting at. Permissions in an app are one thing, but if Apple or Google wanted to they could go way deeper.
  - andix 1y ago
    They can integrate into third party apps, if the publishers want to. A lot of them are going to do it. It's already possible to connect Gmail, and many other services, this can extend even more. The connection of those services could be done by the iOS/Android apps.
    - deaux 1y ago
      I doubt this will be super successful because so many of the apps that people would want to integrate it are those made by Apple, Google, Meta and others whose goal is to be a direct competitor. I might be wrong though, we'll see.

foldr 1y ago

I think this will be an Apple Maps situation. Embarrassing initially, but a few years later, there’ll be a perfectly usable product.

kasabali 1y ago
the whole maps debacle was a plot against Forstall
- foldr 1y ago
  A 'plot'? That must be some kind of weird online conspiracy theory. Apple Maps worked poorly on initial release for reasons that are entirely unmysterious (the lack of comprehensive and accurate geographical data). Forstall was of course fired as an eventual result of this, but the idea that the whole PR disaster was engineered as part of a scheme to oust him is just daft.
tssva 1y ago
I still find Apple Maps to be awful. It consistently gives poor directions. For example the exit you need to take from the closest major road to reach my neighborhood splits once you are on it. If you continue straight you reach a stop light where you can then take a left and then continue 1/8th of a mile to the turn for my neighborhood. Apple Maps will instead have you go to the right when the exit splits and then have you continue another 1/2 mile before taking a u-turn and heading back the 5/8ths of a mile to turn into my neighborhood. Google Maps does the right thing. I now warn visitors to use Google Maps or to ignore these directions from Apple Maps. I also live near a large city and a couple of smaller cities with busy downtown areas. In each of them the main streets are virtually impossible to perform a u-turn on because of the large amount of traffic. Apple Maps will insist on giving directions which involve taking u-turns on these streets. Google Maps will instead route you the easier way around the block instead of insisting on an impossible u-turn which in the end is slower because of the difficulty in actually performing the maneuver. Also I find the directions from Apple Maps when taking an exit which further splits into multiple exits to be highly confusing. The spoken directions from Google Maps is much better in these circumstances. Every new release I try Apple Maps again just to see if it has gotten better in these circumstances and every release I am disappointed.