Apple to Unveil AI-Powered Smart Replies Feature for the Mail App at WWDC 2024: Report

Smart replies is said to let Apple’s Mail app users respond to emails with AI-generated messages.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 7 June 2024 12:53 IST

Apple to Unveil AI-Powered Smart Replies Feature for the Mail App at WWDC 2024: Report

Photo Credit: Pexels/Mateusz Taciak

Apple might add an email summarisation feature to both iOS 18 and macOS 15, the report claimed

Highlights

Reportedly, Apple could also add Smart Replies capability to Siri
Mail app is also reported to get an email classification feature
Apple has created Project BlackPearl to develop AI features for Mail app

Apple could introduce an AI-powered Smart Replies feature to its native Mail app, as per a report. The Smart Reply feature will be able to use artificial intelligence (AI) to instantly generate responses to emails in the inbox. The tech giant is reported to unveil the feature at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 scheduled for June 10. Siri is said to be equipped with the Smart Replies feature as well, which would allow it to generate messages and reply to emails on the user's behalf. Reportedly, these AI-led upgrades are being developed by Apple's Project BlackPearl.

Apple to add AI-Powered features to the Mail App

According to a report by AppleInsider, the Mail app is set for a major upgrade. Citing people familiar with the matter, it claimed that a Smart Replies feature will be able to generate email replies and help users respond to emails quickly. It is also said to be able to change the tonality of the responses. For instance, users can ask the reply to be more professional, more conversational, or friendlier.

The report claimed that the pre-release version of Apple's upcoming operating systems also showed more upgrades for the Mail app. The search results of the app were seen to include data from Contacts, locations, and on-device documents. This is reported to add a more nuanced search function for the Mail app. These features are said to be powered by the Ajax large language model (LLM), Apple's yet-to-be-announced on-device AI model.

Further, the Mail app might be able to categorise emails based on their text, claimed the report. This could mean that Apple will be equipping the Mail app with machine learning technology to analyse emails. The report highlighted that the app might be able to classify emails into one of the six pre-defined lists among Commerce, News, Other, Promotions, Social, and Transactions.

This could be useful for those who receive a large number of emails. Official email accounts of organisations may also benefit from it. Additionally, the report claims that Smart Replies and email categorisation features will also be added to Siri. While it is difficult to gauge the use case for the latter, the former will allow users to verbally respond to emails with AI-generated content.

Apart from these, a previous report has highlighted that Apple might add AI features for Siri, Photos app, Notes app, and more.

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Further reading: Apple, Apple AI, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Mail app, Siri, Ajax

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More