If you haven’t seen it, Apple has unveiled its groundbreaking integrated AI suite across all its devices. You can watch the video here and then come back – we’ll wait for you.
Apple Intelligence is made possible thanks to a deal between the electronics giant and OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT and Dall.E. It promises to flesh out Siri’s capabilities, allow users to create bespoke emojis (Genmoji), and generate movies from your photos and videos. Furthermore, it will include ChatGPT, which will be available across devices at no additional cost to Apple users. It’s all coming as part of iOS 18 at the end of 2024.
The most interesting and helpful feature is Writing Tools. It’s a systemwide assistant that allows AI to sharpen your prose wherever you’re typing. Although we’ve only seen a small demo, this is a game-changer for end users and is set to give the executives at Grammarly a few sleepless nights.
Killer app
We use Grammarly daily at IrvineMedia. It’s a great safety net for catching mistakes in our writing. Whether it’s an email to a client, a blog, or carefully crafted marketing materials, Grammarly is on hand to improve things. Ironically, it’s assisting with this post about its potential demise, as Apple’s Writing Tools is potentially about to make it irrelevant.
Apple uses (copies?) the best of Grammarly. Rewrites, proofreading, suggested edits, etc. are all included, and the text can even be summarised in Tl;Dr format. And it’s going to do all this for free. Not via a subscription or one-off payment… gratis. This is a game-changer.
Microsoft Copilot, which does the same thing, starts at $30 monthly. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft 365 works with Apple’s Writing Tools as a direct competitor. Grammarly does have a free version that covers the basics. It shows mistakes, your current tone of voice, and can generate 100 free AI text prompts. Nonetheless, the premium subscription Apple Writing Tools is gunning for is also $30 per month.
For individuals and enterprises alike, that $30 per month ($25 for businesses) will be the first thing slashed from their cost sheets by the close of 2024. We’ll continue using Grammarly as it’s the best around, and we have yet to test Writing Tools. However, by providing a free alternative, Apple may have killed Grammarly as we know it.