Apple has rolled out its iOS 18.1 developer beta, giving users an initial experience of its Apple Intelligence features. Among these, the Writing Tools stand out, allowing users to reformat or rewrite text using Apple’s AI models. However, users will notice a cautionary message indicating that AI-generated suggestions might not be of the highest quality when dealing with certain topics.
Apple Intelligence can be summoned virtually anywhere within the system to help users adjust text. Yet, when attempting to rewrite paragraphs or sentences containing swear words, such as “s—” or “bastard,” a warning pops up: “Writing Tools was not designed to handle this type of content.” This message, along with a header warning that the quality of rewriting may vary, highlights Apple’s cautious approach.
The warning isn’t limited to profanity. References to drugs, killing, or murder will also trigger the same notification. This indicates a broader scope of topics that the AI is not specifically trained to handle effectively.
Despite the warnings, Apple Intelligence still provides suggestions even when dealing with untrained words or phrases. During testing, replacing “sh—y” with “crappy” removed the warning, yet the AI tool offered the same suggestion as before, showcasing the system’s limitations and quirks.
Apple has been asked for further details on which topics the Writing Tools are not trained to suggest improvements for, and any updates from the company will be included as they become available.
This cautious approach likely stems from Apple’s desire to avoid controversy. By limiting the AI’s engagement with certain words, topics, and tones, Apple aims to prevent potential backlash over AI-generated content. The Apple Intelligence-powered Writing Tools are designed more for text refinement rather than creating new content from scratch, but the warnings serve as a precautionary measure.
Apple’s history with managing profanity in its systems is notable. It took until iOS 17 for Apple to introduce an autocorrect feature that learns user swear words, removing previous restrictions. With Apple Intelligence, the company appears to be exercising caution to avoid any regulatory issues related to problematic content generation.
