ZD 25.23: Apple's Lo-Fi AI Revolution
Apple Intelligence is under-the-radar smart and will sell more Apple Devices.
Apple’s quest to sell you more apple gear leads to them creating conditions for a lo-fi on-device AI revolution inside of their ecosystem. Pair with a smooth, lo-fi trip hop musical coda.
The Distilled Spirit
Technology Survey
🤷♀️ What Happened in the 2010s? ()
Big tech, the internet and mobile apps exploded in the 2010s. Will AI be able to continue this trend?
🌲 The Universal Tech Tree ()
Technology trees are a concept from gaming. Do they apply to reality?
🗺 The Historical Tech Tree ()
Etienne vibe coded made a really cool interactive tech tree that is worth sharing.
💻 Microsoft’s Developer Tools Journey ()
Scott Guthrie and his trademark red golf shirt have been a big part of Microsoft’s continued developer tool domination. Hear how .NET, Azure and Visual Studio Code grew to be what they are.
Modern Warfare
💸 The $500 Future of Warfare is Already Here ()
The US is looking at spending $300 million an airframe on the F-47. $500 drones just destroyed a sizable chunk of the soviet strategic bomber fleet. The math is staggering.
⛑ The Reality at the Front (Dimitri Alperovich)
A Russian drone designer shares insights about how drones are being built and employed in the war.
🕷 Nuclear Implications of Operation Spiderweb ()
The Soviet bomber fleet was damaged, what does that mean for nuclear deterrence capabilities?
🟥 Revisiting Operation Barbarossa ()
Deep dive into the operational history of Barbarossa and what could have been done differently to change the outcome.
AI Challenges
🧠 AGI Is Not Around the Corner ()
Dwarkesh is wise and has access to a lot of thought leaders. He does not see the pace of AI change continuing at this pace.
🥊 Apple Knocks Down AI Reasoning ()
Apple has a proof that AI reasoning falls down on more complicated problems. Gary Marcus dances with glee.
📰 The Gray Lady Strikes Back ()
The NYT is suing OpenAI and has managed to get a judge to require OpenAI keep all the chats, even your temporary ones.
⏰ Tax Code Time Bomb (Quartz)
Are the massive layoffs in tech more wrapped up in tax code changes than AI taking jobs?
Using AI
🤔 ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Claude in 2025 ()
Peter Yang compares the three leading AI tools and helps you understand which one to use in mid-2025.
⚙ The Power of Automation ()
Automation makes your AI tools much more powerful. Don’t miss part 2 for more automation stunts.
🗣 AI Models Play Diplomacy (Every)
Find out what happens when AI models sit down and play diplomacy together, complete with source code.
🧠 Malicious Context Protocol? (hrbmstr)
MCP is a bit wild west now, and 8% of MCP servers show signs of malicious intent or critical vulnerabilities. Caveat emptor.
Professional Advice
📊 Wardley Maps & Pace Layering ()
Wardley Maps are great ways to understand technology and guide your pace of change.
🍾 Test Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself ()
How to stress test your ideas. Knowing when to say when is a key to creative success.
📉 5 Steps to Avoid Stupid Stock Buys ()
Five good questions to ask before clicking the market order button.
🎨 Creativity Lessons from Jobs and Pixar (Neolemon)
In the wake of Toy Story’s success, Steve Jobs and John Lasseter shared seven important lessons on creativity that still ring true 30 years later.
Staying Hip
🥠 Restaurant-Style Sichuan Food ()
What the restaurants do to make your mapo tofu so good.
💊 Microdosing Ozempic (The Hollywood Reporter)
Microdosing psychedelics is out, microdosing health and energy is in.
💘 OF Billboard Takeover ()
It turns out that Billboards are cheap, effective advertising that does not ban adult performers.
🎲 Sports Betting Rewired Gen Z’s Risk Relationship ()
Easy sports betting has re-wired many young men’s appetite for risk.
Apple's Quiet AI Revolution
Here's the thing about Silicon Valley's big players — they each have their own gravitational pull. Google? It's all about serving you more ads. Amazon wants you buying more stuff. Microsoft's playing the licensing game. But Apple? They're laser-focused on one thing: making you need more Apple gear.
The Subtle Power Play
WWDC 2024 perfectly captured this philosophy. While everyone was expecting flashy AI demos and GPT-style theatrics, Apple took a completely different approach. No headline-grabbing model announcements. No benchmark bragging. Instead, they revealed something far more strategic yet quite subtle.
Giving software developers access to Apple Intelligence is about deepening the ecosystem moat and keeping you preferring Apple devices. Cloud-based AI makes everyone else’s devices a commodity or gateway at best, but Apple’s on-device ecosystem keeps you buying Apple exclusively. They become part of the value proposition rather than just another commodity between a user and his data.
The Automation Revolution
But here's where things get really interesting. The most transformative announcement wasn't about AI models at all — it was about automation capabilities. The Shortcuts app just became a superpower.
With Apple Intelligence now embedded and easy access to other applications, users can create complex automations using natural language. Simple prompts become multi-step workflows that interact deeply with system apps and third-party services. It looks to be a way to enable people to really leverage the AI tools that are often beyond their grasp.
The convergence of pro-grade customization with consumer-grade convenience creates something unique. No other platform offers this combination at Apple's scale and polish.
The Bigger Picture
What Apple quietly took a big step closer towards a redefinition of personal computing in the AI age. Apple is keeping its ecosystem relevant in a way that Microsoft is failing to do with copilot.
Apple is not chasing the big AI headlines, nor winning any hype war. But they are getting much closer to delivering real AI tools end users will adopt at scale. And they are doing it in a way that keeps those users in their ecosystem buying more Apple devices.
Musical Coda
The Look
Our world in data shows how the youth are lonely today.
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