Apple Intelligence Writing Tools Encounter Issues with Swears and Controversial Topics

Apple introduced users to its Apple Intelligence features with the release of the iOS 18.1 developer beta last month. Writing Tools, which allows users to reformat or rewrite text using Apple’s AI models, is a new feature in this update. However, the tool may display a message warning users that AI-generated suggestions may not be optimal for certain topics.

Users can access Apple Intelligence throughout the system to modify text. If attempting to rewrite a paragraph or sentence containing swear words such as “s—” and “bastard,” users will see a notification stating that the tool is not equipped to handle such content, with a caution that quality of rewriting may vary.

Swear words are not the only trigger for this warning. References to drugs, killing, or murder can also prompt the warning message.

Despite the warning, Apple Intelligence will still provide suggestions for sentences containing words or phrases it has not been trained on. While testing, replacing “sh—y” with “crappy” elicited the same suggestion as before.

We have reached out to Apple for clarification on the topics the writing tools are not trained to provide suggestions on and will update the story accordingly.

Apple may be avoiding controversy by restricting certain words, topics, and tones when its AI is rewriting sentences. The Apple Intelligence-powered writing tools are not meant to create new content from scratch, but to alert users when sensitive terms are detected by the AI.

Apple took years to remove a block on swear words from the keyboard’s autocorrect suggestions, but finally introduced an autocorrect feature that learns user swears with iOS 17. With Apple Intelligence, the company may be exercising caution to prevent generating problematic content and facing potential regulatory scrutiny.