Apple is accused of spreading ‘fake news’ about Luigi Mangione
Apple is accused of spreading fake news about Luigi Mangione.
The British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) has filed a complaint after the tech giant’s new Apple Intelligence generated a misleading summary of a BBC news article about the alleged killer.
The summary suggested that Mangione had shot himself.
It read: ‘Luigi Mangione shoots himself; Syrian mother hopes Assad pays the price; South Korean police raid Yoon Suk Yeol’s office,’ referring to three articles allegedly published by the BBC.
The summary notifications feature is part of Apple Intelligence, Apple’s new AI system that launched in the UK on December 11.
Notification summaries appear at the top of a stack of notifications from the same app and should give the user an overview of the things he or she missed.
After the error was identified, a BBC spokesperson contacted Apple “to raise these concerns and resolve the issue,” the broadcaster said.
26-year-old Ivy League graduate Mangione is alive and in prison in Pennsylvania awaiting an extradition hearing after being accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson.
The British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) has filed a complaint with Apple after the tech giant’s AI generated a false headline saying Luigi Mangione had shot himself
The message read: ‘Luigi Mangione shoots himself; Syrian mother hopes Assad pays the price; South Korean police raid Yoon Suk Yeol’s office, referring to three articles allegedly published by the BBC
‘BBC News is the most trusted news medium in the world’ said the unnamed BBC spokesperson.
“It is vital to us that our audiences can trust any information or journalism published in our name, including notifications.”
Apple did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
The BBC pointed out that this is not the first time that Apple Intelligence has provided misleading summaries of news articles.
On November 21, the New York Times suffered a similar error. The AI grouped three articles together into one notice, with the first part reading “Netanyahu arrested,” referring to the Israeli prime minister.
This was an incorrect summary of a New York Times report on the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
The prime minister has not been arrested, and the newspaper did not report this incorrectly.
The New York Times did not publicly acknowledge the error and declined to comment on the BBC news. At this time, it remains unclear whether the newspaper has contacted Apple about this.
The errors appear to be relatively widespread. Countless iPhone users have shared screenshots of notification summaries that are inaccurate and sometimes nonsensical.
The New York Times suffered a similar error in November. The AI grouped three articles together into one report, with the first part reading: ‘Netanyahu arrested’
Countless iPhone users have shared screenshots of notification summaries that are inaccurate and sometimes downright nonsensical
The notification summaries feature also summarizes texts, sometimes with alarming inaccuracy
“Big fan of Apple Intelligence’s summary feature, especially because it turns any boring notification I wouldn’t read before into a cute little mystery to unpack,” one X user posted with a screenshot of an Apple News summary.
The summary message read: “Love salmon may not be a good idea; polar bears are back in Britain.’
This feature doesn’t just summarize news articles. It can also summarize your messages, sometimes with alarming inaccuracy.
Another X user posted a screenshot of Apple Intelligence’s attempt to summarize a text from his mother.
It read, “Attempted suicide, but recovered and hiked in Redlands and Palm Springs,” while the actual message apparently read, “That hike almost killed me!”
These screenshots have not been verified, but are among many other reports of similar issues with the Apple Intelligence feature. While some of them may be easy to laugh at, there are dangers in misrepresenting facts in this way.
Prof. Petros Iosifidis, professor of media policy at City University in London, told BBC News that these types of films have potential benefits, “but the technology is not there yet and there is a real danger of spreading disinformation.”
“I see the push coming first, but I’m surprised Apple put their name on such an arguably half-baked product,” he said.
Apple has not indicated whether they are working to fix the feature. So for now, iPhone users will have to be wary of the information in these summaries.