Apple puts a pause on Apple Intelligence notification summaries after high-profile errors

Apple Intelligence

Apple has temporarily disabled its notification summarisation feature for apps in the News and Entertainment categories in the iOS 18.3 beta. The move comes after Apple had faced a lot of backlash over inaccurate facts were summaries by Apple Intelligence.

Apple has also included a disclaimer that errors may occur, emphasizing the experimental nature of this functionality.

As part of the changes, Apple has updated the wording during setup to caution users about potential inaccuracies in summarised notifications. The notification now reads: “Summarization may change the meaning of the original headlines. Double-check important information.” This serves as a reminder to users that summarized content may not always convey the original intent accurately.

Furthermore, summarised notifications are now displayed in italicised text, helping users distinguish them from standard notifications.

With iOS 18.3, Apple will also allow users to disable notification summaries on a per-app basis directly from the Lock Screen. By swiping on a notification and tapping the “Options” button, users can access an interface to turn off the summarization feature for individual apps.

Errors and inaccurate summaries

Apple Intelligence’s notification summarisation feature has faced criticism due to several high-profile errors, highlighting challenges in accurately condensing headlines.

One of the most notable incidents occurred in December, when 22 separate BBC news notifications were combined into a single, misleading three-part headline. It began with “Luigi Mangione shoots himself,” a statement that was both incorrect and unrelated to the news content. Mangione, who was allegedly linked to Brian Thompson, had not committed such an act.

Another issue arose in November when Apple Intelligence combined headlines from The New York Times. The resulting notification falsely claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been arrested. This error was widely circulated after being flagged by a ProPublica reporter on social media.