Apple wants you to scan your friend’s dog with iPhone 16’s Visual Intelligence
The iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max have been officially revealed, promising the biggest step forward for Apple’s smartphone software experience in years.
Apple revealed the iPhone 16 lineup at the “It’s Glowtime” event on September 9, and also showcased its forthcoming Apple Intelligence AI features which will begin rolling out in October.
Apple CEO Tim Cook called the iPhone 16 series the “first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence”, and the company showed several short videos to demonstrate the day-to-day uses of its new AI tools.
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Amongst the features shown was Visual Intelligence, activated by the new Camera Control capacitive button, which analyses the images in the field of view of the camera app to provide contextual information about the user’s surroundings.
Apple’s livestream showed a supposed user walking around town, using Visual Intelligence to pull up a restaurant menu and find more details about a concert flyer.
However, the example that has stirred the most reactions has to be our protagonist using their iPhone 16 to scan a passer-by’s dog, to find the breed of the canine companion through an AI-assisted web search. Online commenters have been going barking mad (sorry) trying to figure out why the user wouldn’t just ask the dog walker themselves.
As tech reviewer and YouTuber Rjey Tech writes on X (formerly Twitter): “’What kind of dog is that?’ Instead of asking the owner, pull out your iPhone and ask Apple Intelligence.”
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“What kind of Dog is that?”Instead of just asking the owner, pull out your iPhone and ask Apple Intelligence.September 9, 2024
Others weren’t so quietly sarcastic. App developer kitze referred to “AI morons” silently pointing iPhones at strangers’ puppies.
regular human: asks owner “what kind of dog is that”apple AI moron: says nothing and points phone at a strangers puppy and asks siri “what kind of dog is that”September 9, 2024
Most reactions haven’t been quite so strong, but there’s certainly a consensus of confusion regarding Apple’s choice of demonstration.
Will Apple Intelligence be useful?
While most commentators – us included – recognize that Apple’s iPhone 16 demonstrations aren’t quite true-to-life, the dog-scanning discourse highlights concern over whether Apple Intelligence brings meaningful upgrades to the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
After all, Apple’s annual September events are the most important product launches in its calendar, so fans expect the company’s A-game all the way through.
So, a somewhat unrealistic demonstration can leave commentators like FlightRadar24’s Jacob Rabinowitz thinking that Apple can’t bring any tangible use cases to mind.
Even Apple can’t demo a useful function for AI in its iPhone keynote.This ridiculous interaction goes “hi, can I take a picture of your dog so I can use AI to identify the breed?” instead of just being a normal person and asking “hi, what breed is your dog?” pic.twitter.com/JZI30yIMFbSeptember 9, 2024
It’s too early to draw conclusions about Apple Intelligence, but we think it’s most likely Apple was just having a bit of fun – and let’s face it, cute dogs are good for business.
On the other hand, Apple are always keen to emphasise the constant presence of its products in people’s lives, so there is something to glean about how the company may be envisioning a normalisation of AI in day-to-day interactions.
Visual Intelligence will be available later this year as part of a staggered rollout of Apple Intelligence features.
We’ll have the latest Apple Intelligence news as we hear it, and for our first impressions of a key new iPhone, do read our hands-on iPhone 16 Pro review.
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Mobile Computing Staff Writer
Jamie is a Mobile Computing Staff Writer for TechRadar, responsible for covering phones and tablets. He’s been tech-obsessed from a young age and has written for various news and culture publications. Jamie graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. Since starting out as a music blogger in 2020, he’s worked on local news stories, finance trade magazines, and multimedia political features. He brings a love for digital journalism and consumer technology to TechRadar. Outside of the TechRadar office, Jamie can be found binge-watching tech reviews, DJing in local venues around London, or challenging friends to a game of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
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