(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Apple was slammed after its artificial intelligence (AI) service sent out a BBC News alert that falsely claimed the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect committed suicide.
Luigi Mangione, the alleged assassin who shot dead UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan, was identified and arrested Monday after he was spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The murder suspect, who is very much alive, was incorrectly reported to have shot himself in an AI-generated BBC notification that appeared on some iPhones.
“Luigi Mangione shoots himself; Syrian mother hopes Assad pays the price; South Korea police raid Yoon Suk Yeol’s office,” the AI-generated news alert read on some Apple devices.
BBS AI-powered headline generator has joined the fake news production.
BBC complained that Apple AI turned its news into a misleading snippet: "Luigi Mangione shoots himself."
On the bright side, they saved on the human social media editor.https://t.co/XGLy7BLPPL pic.twitter.com/lskcRttqbB— Andrey Mir (@Andrey4Mir) December 14, 2024
The other two news items that appeared after the BBC’s incorrect headline about Mangione were factually accurate.
BBC reportedly complained to Apple after the big tech company’s new AI feature, which launched Wednesday in the U.K., sent out the false headline to iPhones.
“This week, the AI-powered summary falsely made it appear BBC News had published an article claiming Luigi Mangione, the man arrested following the murder of healthcare insurance CEO Brian Thompson in New York, had shot himself. He has not,” BBC wrote in its own report on the issue.
A BBC spokesperson said the news corporation had contacted Apple “to raise this concern and fix the problem,” BBC reported on its own website.
“BBC News is the most trusted news media in the world,” the BBC spokesperson added. “It is essential to us that our audiences can trust any information or journalism published in our name and that includes notifications.”
Apple’s AI-generated notification summaries are only available on the following devices: iPhones using the iOS 18.1 system version or later on recent devices (all iPhone 16 phones, the 15 Pro, and the 15 Pro Max), some iPads and some Macs, according to the outlet.
“Apple Intelligence also helps users prioritize and stay in the moment with notification summaries that allow users to scan long or stacked notifications with key details right on the Lock Screen, such as when a group chat is particularly active. A new Focus, Reduce Interruptions, surfaces only the notifications that might need immediate attention,” a description of the new AI-powered feature in Apple’s press release stated.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
