Apple May Soon Bring Generative AI to Emojis. Here’s What That Means.

• Apple is developing software for users to create custom emojis using generative AI.
• Siri will get a generative AI upgrade to improve natural speech and new task capabilities.
• New AI features for iOS 18 and macOS 15 include transcribing voice memos and retouching photos.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But that was before we had emojis. And before emojis had AI.

Apple is developing software for users to create customized emojis on the go as part of a new spate of generative AI features, according to Bloomberg. These features go beyond the catalog of emojis Apple offers by creating a special emoji for each situation.

Siri is also getting a generative AI makeover. With the help of Apple’s own large language models, its virtual assistant will should sound more natural, and the Apple Watch will get a more advanced version of Siri to assist with tasks on the go, Bloombeg reported. Apple hopes the technology will also help Siri improve upon the tasks it already does, like responding to questions, and take on new tasks like summarizing text messages.

Apple also aims to release new AI features for iOS 18 and macOS 15 to transcribe voice memos, retouch photos, and speed up and improve search results.

Next month, Apple will likely discuss some of these features at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The company has been pretty quiet about its generative AI strategy — especially compared to other tech giants like Google and Microsoft — but that doesn’t mean you should count it out of the AI arms race. CEO Tim Cook promised in February that “AI “will affect every product and service we have.”

It’s par for the course for Apple to be a little late to the announcement game.

“Apple is very rarely first to market,” Carolina Milanesi, principal analyst at Creative Strategies, a tech consulting firm, previously told Business Insider. “They prefer to come in and disrupt the market — take anything from wearables to smartphones to tablets. They’ve never been first.”