Apple and AI: Time for Action, Not Excuses

Mark Gurman has published the latest tell-all about Apple’s failure to claim a seat at the artificial intelligence big boy table. The more I read about this, the more it becomes clear that failure here has many fathers. Some of Apple’s leadership apparently didn’t see the underlying technology as relevant. Some didn’t want to spend the money. Others just didn’t make it a priority. For all of these reasons, there’s a ton of innovation happening right now in artificial intelligence, and Apple is responsible for none of it.

At this point, I’m much less interested in how Apple got into this position and much more interested in how they intend to get out of it. Apple remains a massive company with tremendous resources, and in my opinion, it’s not too late to turn this battleship around. I still think Apple’s idea for artificial intelligence, as expressed last year at WWDC, makes sense: refine AI into genuinely useful tools that consumers want, and combine that with private, on-device data to give users something truly unique.

But the question that I first asked last June still remains unanswered: Does Apple have the AI chops to actually make this happen? So far, it appears they don’t. There’s been a recent management shuffle, with Mike Rockwell now in charge of Siri, but the jury’s still out on whether this will be enough.

I’m hoping that the combination of leadership changes and a very public black eye will finally give Apple the push it needs to deliver something remarkable in AI. At the end of the day, Apple’s users—myself included—are waiting to see if the company can make good on its promise to deliver thoughtful, private, and genuinely helpful artificial intelligence.

“How to Avoid a Scam” From the FTC

After writing a few weeks ago about seniors’ particular vulnerability to online scams, I heard from several readers that are actively working to educate seniors about the risks they face. The stories in those emails indicate that things are worse than I thought, and that seniors are even more ignorant to these risks than I imagined.

Reader Lisa sent a link to this excellent document from the FTC, which you can get in PDF or printed form:

How To Avoid a Scam | FTC Bulkorder Publications

Alfred Field Guide Launch Discount

The Alfred Field Guide has landed!

Your Mac at the Speed of Thought.

There’s just a few days left on the Alfred Field Guide Launch discount. If you’d like to get the discount, now’s the time.


What you’ll master

  • Zero‑to‑Hero Setup: Install Alfred, unlock Powerpack features, and master core prefs in minutes.
  • Launch & Search at Mach Speed: Apps, files, snippets, clipboard, system controls—all from one hotkey.
  • 35+ Plug‑and‑Play Workflows: OmniFocus, Notes, Drafts, Music, link cleanup—and more.
  • Custom Workflows, No Scripting Required: Visual builder tutorials take you from idea to automation.
  • Pro Integrations: Alfred + Shortcuts, Keyboard Maestro, AppleScript mash‑ups that save hours.
  • Advanced Tweaks: Sync across Macs, design themes, harness Alfred Remote, and uncover hidden gems.
  • Power User Interviews: Hear from Alfred Power Users (and the developers) to learn their favorite Workflows.

Remember to enter ALFREDLAUNCH for 10 % off before Wednesday, May 20 @ 11:59 PM PT. I can’t wait to see what you do with Alfred! 

What people are saying about the Alfred Field Guide…

“Prior to the guide I loved Alfred, now I understand the underutilized powerhouse that it is and that I have at my fingertips.”

– GO

“One video in, I was thinking, “How did I not know that?” Five videos, and it was clear that this Field Guide should be watched by everyone using Alfred.”

Neal L.

Cotypist: AI Autocompletion Everywhere on Your Mac (Sponsor)

There are a lot of angles to AI and productivity emerging right now. One I’ve come to appreciate is AI-based smarter autocomplete. My tool of choice for this is Cotypist. It’s made by a trusted Mac developer, it’s fast, and it takes privacy seriously.

Unlike many AI writing tools that require you to work within their specific interface, Cotypist works in virtually any text field across your Mac. Whether you’re drafting an email, writing in your favorite text editor, or filling out a form, Cotypist is there to help speed up your writing.

The app’s latest version (.9) brings notable improvements to both performance and completion qualityand new AI models that give even better completions. It even respects your Mac’s Smart Quotes preferences – a small but meaningful touch that shows attention to detail.

With Cotypist turned on, it offers inline completions that appear in real time. Then you’ve got a few options:

  • You could just ignore the suggestion and keep typing like you’ve always done.
  • If you want to accept the full multi-word suggestion, you press a user-defined key. (I use the backtick – just above the Tab key on a US keyboard.)
  • If you just want to accept the next suggest word, you hit another user-defined key (I use Tab)
  • If you want to dismiss the suggestion entirely, press escape. (This is handy when doing online forms, for instance.)

At first, the constant suggestions may feel distracting, but once I adapted to it, I can’t imagine going back.

Cotypist generates all completions locally on your Mac. No cloud services, no data sharing – just your Mac’s processing power working to speed up your writing.

Like I said, Cotypist represents an interesting take on AI and is worth checking out.