Apple urged to axe AI feature after false headline

A major journalism body has urged Apple to scrap its new generative AI feature after it created a misleading headline about a high-profile killing in the United States.
The BBC made a complaint to the US tech giant after Apple Intelligence, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to summarise and group together notifications, falsely created a headline about murder suspect Luigi Mangione.
The AI-powered summary falsely made it appear that BBC News had published an article claiming Mangione, the man accused of the murder of healthcare insurance CEO Brian Thompson in New York, had shot himself. He has not.
Now, the group Reporters Without Borders has called on Apple to remove the technology. Apple has made no comment.
Apple Intelligence was launched in the UK last week.
Reporters Without Borders, also known as RSF, said it was was “very concerned by the risks posed to media outlets” by AI tools.
The group said the BBC incident proves “generative AI services are still too immature to produce reliable information for the public”.
Vincent Berthier, the head of RSF’s technology and journalism desk, added: “AIs are probability machines, and facts can’t be decided by a roll of the dice.
“RSF calls on Apple to act responsibly by removing this feature. The automated production of false information attributed to a media outlet is a blow to the outlet’s credibility and a danger to the public’s right to reliable information on current affairs.”
Apple has made no comment since the story broke last week.
When the grouped notification involving BBC News emerged, a spokesperson from the BBC said the corporation had contacted Apple “to raise this concern and fix the problem”.
The notification which made a false claim about Mangione was otherwise accurate in its summaries about the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and an update on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The BBC has not yet confirmed if Apple has responded to its complaint.
Mangione has now been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Mr Thompson.