In the lead-up to the holiday season, concerns were raised by the BBC and other news organizations regarding iPhone users who received misleading AI-generated summaries of news stories. These notifications erroneously reported crucial information, such as erroneously indicating that Luigi Mangione had shot himself in relation to an alleged murder case, and falsely claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been arrested. In response to these issues, Apple acknowledged the situation and announced plans to improve transparency for users when it comes to AI-generated news summaries.
With the release of the iOS 18.3 beta 3 update, Apple has introduced important changes to how summarized notifications function for news content. If you wish to use this feature, navigate to Settings > Notifications and select "Summarize Notification." The initial activation of this feature will prompt Apple to display a landing page that outlines the potential inaccuracies of this beta feature.
Apple refines notification summaries in the iOS 18.3 beta 3. | Image credit-PhoneArena
On the "Summarize Notifications" landing page, Apple states, "This beta feature may occasionally misrepresent the meaning of the original notification." Users can then opt to select which notifications they want summarized by clicking on the "Choose notifications to summarize" option, where one can pick notifications from various apps installed on the device.
Users are advised to be cautious and aware that summaries could distort the actual content of the news reports, with the option to disable the feature if preferred. To turn off summarized notifications, go to Settings > Notifications and toggle the feature off at the top of the Summarize Notification page, or manage settings per individual app.
New visual indicators for summarized notifications in iOS 18.3 beta 3. | Image credit-PhoneArena
Furthermore, Apple has introduced an efficient means to disable summarized notifications directly from the Lock Screen. For example, if an AI-generated notification from Fox News is received, you can simply swipe left on it, select options, and choose "Turn Off Summaries." This update also changes the appearance of summarized notifications to italicized text, clearly distinguishing them from standard notifications. Additionally, apps categorized under News and Entertainment, which are more prone to summarization inaccuracies, will not provide summarized notifications indefinitely, as Apple is working on introducing methods to ensure accurate summaries in future updates.
Installing iOS 18.3 Beta 3
If you are part of the iOS 18 beta program, simply head to Settings > General > Software Update to install the latest iOS 18.3 beta 3 update on your device.
