Apple Intelligence and creative expression
Exploring how Apple's AI integration could reshape creativity and communication for millions of iPhone users.
Samantha Stark
9/10/20242 min read


I’m excited to get the new iPhone because of Apple Intelligence. It’s not because the tools are leaps ahead—they’re not. It’s because of the personalization of the tech to me and the ease of use. I anticipate my productivity increasing, maybe by as much as 15% or more, especially with tasks like calendar management being automated. I hope I do cool things with my extra time.
Having followed tech for a long time, what stands out about Apple’s announcement yesterday isn’t the tools themselves—they’ve been around, and Android has had great AI features for some time. What stands out to me is the scale of use this could bring. By baking these AI tools right into the iPhone, Apple is essentially dropping more advanced creative AI capabilities into millions of pockets overnight. And while many of these tools have existed on other platforms, Apple's integration is unique because of the way it blends personal context and functionality directly into the core experience.
A Breakdown of the Tools in the iPhone Specifically
Writing Assistance: They’re rolling out features to generate messages and refine writing across apps. There’s also talk of summarizing notifications, emails, and meeting notes. Apple’s writing assistance will be accessible across virtually every app where typing is involved, allowing you to rewrite notes, polish messages, or summarize emails in a more contextual way.
Visual Creation: Custom emoji and image creation based on text prompts. Not new in the AI world, but these tools allow for easy creation of personalized emoji and images through 'Image Playground,' integrated across apps like Messages.
Smart Photo Management: An advanced search function for photos and videos. Might save some scrolling time, as Apple Intelligence lets you find specific moments by describing them, such as “Sena dancing in a red dress.”
Siri Upgrades: Siri is becoming smarter with richer language understanding and the ability to take actions based on your personal context. It can now handle requests even if you stumble over words and perform tasks such as sending photos or playing music from your messages.
Visual Intelligence: Visual Intelligence allows you to point your camera at objects to instantly retrieve information or add events to your calendar, and it leverages third-party tools like ChatGPT for more advanced problem-solving.
What This Means for Creativity and Communications
I consider myself a superuser of GenAI tools, and I love the way they open up new ways for me to connect with my friends and colleagues. I'm constantly sending people personalized short videos and images, as I test out the tech in new ways. It's changed how I express myself.
This personal experience has me thinking about the potential implications of this same experience for others, at this scale. One aspect I love is that these tools can help people who aren’t professional writers or designers express themselves more easily. For marketers, this democratization of creative tools can mean a shift in user-generated content, with everyday consumers producing more polished, personalized visuals and messages.
Additionally, we’re already seeing new art forms emerge, with very distinct and different styles of visual and written content. For instance, the Reply AI Film Festival, which just ran alongside the 81st Venice International Film Festival and sponsored by Mastercard, received over 1,000 submissions from 59 countries. This showcases the growing intersection between AI and creative industries like cinema.
These tools give people new ways to create and communicate. For those of us in marketing and communications, this means adjusting how we communicate too. The good news is that using these tools is super fun once you put in the work to learn them.
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