Man Learns He's Being Dumped Via 'Dystopian' AI Summary of Texts 109
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Wednesday, NYC-based software developer Nick Spreen received a surprising alert on his iPhone 15 Pro, delivered through an early test version of Apple's upcoming Apple Intelligence text message summary feature. "No longer in a relationship; wants belongings from the apartment," the AI-penned message reads, summing up the content of several separate breakup texts from his girlfriend -- that arrived on his birthday, no less. Spreen shared a screenshot of the AI-generated message in a now-viral tweet on the X social network, writing, "for anyone who's wondered what an apple intelligence summary of a breakup text looks like." Spreen told Ars Technica that the screenshot does not show his ex-girlfriend's full real name, just a nickname.
This summary feature of Apple Intelligence, announced by the iPhone maker in June, isn't expected to fully ship until an iOS 18.1 update in the fall. However, it has been available in a public beta test of iOS 18 since July, which is what Spreen is running on his iPhone. It works akin to something like a stripped-down ChatGPT, reading your incoming text messages and delivering its own simplified version of their content. On X, Spreen replied to skepticism over whether the message was real in a follow-up post. "Yes this was real / yes it happened yesterday / yes it was my birthday," Spreen wrote. In response to a question about it being a fair summary of his girlfriend's messages, he wrote, "it is."
We reached out to Spreen directly via email and he delivered his own summary of his girlfriend's messages. "It was something along the lines of i can't believe you just did that, we're done, i want my stuff. we had an argument in a bar and I got up and left, then she sent the text," he wrote. How did he feel about getting the news via AI summary? "I do feel like it added a level of distance to it that wasn't a bad thing," he told Ars Technica. "Maybe a bit like a personal assistant who stays professional and has your back even in the most awful situations, but yeah, more than anything it felt unreal and dystopian."
This summary feature of Apple Intelligence, announced by the iPhone maker in June, isn't expected to fully ship until an iOS 18.1 update in the fall. However, it has been available in a public beta test of iOS 18 since July, which is what Spreen is running on his iPhone. It works akin to something like a stripped-down ChatGPT, reading your incoming text messages and delivering its own simplified version of their content. On X, Spreen replied to skepticism over whether the message was real in a follow-up post. "Yes this was real / yes it happened yesterday / yes it was my birthday," Spreen wrote. In response to a question about it being a fair summary of his girlfriend's messages, he wrote, "it is."
We reached out to Spreen directly via email and he delivered his own summary of his girlfriend's messages. "It was something along the lines of i can't believe you just did that, we're done, i want my stuff. we had an argument in a bar and I got up and left, then she sent the text," he wrote. How did he feel about getting the news via AI summary? "I do feel like it added a level of distance to it that wasn't a bad thing," he told Ars Technica. "Maybe a bit like a personal assistant who stays professional and has your back even in the most awful situations, but yeah, more than anything it felt unreal and dystopian."
Struggling to understand (Score:5, Insightful)
how drivel like this is "newsworthy"
Is this what we've become?
We belong dead
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The post above feels very much like an AI summarization of TFS.
Re:Struggling to understand (Score:5, Funny)
how drivel like this is "newsworthy"
Because you squint really, really hard, you can blame it on Apple.
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All AI has this problem, it seems. Delivering things inappropriately.
Facebook memories of dead people and pets, or disasters you'd rather forget.
Notifications of traumatic events in impersonal, uncaring language.
Instructions for some criminal activity that the developer didn't think to block.
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All AI has this problem, it seems. Delivering things inappropriately.
Facebook memories of dead people and pets, or disasters you'd rather forget.
Notifications of traumatic events in impersonal, uncaring language.
Instructions for some criminal activity that the developer didn't think to block.
It is impossible to account for all the things that might trigger people and trying to seems foolish but Apple is by no means the only one trying. Having said that he does not seem to have been particularly triggered or upset by the summary:
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how drivel like this is "newsworthy"
Because you squint really, really hard, you can blame it on Apple.
It's both sad and funny that future men are gonna get Dear John'd by a chatbot.
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As a person who occasionally receives text messages such as "Can you pick up milk on your way home this evening?" or "You have an upcoming dentist appointment" I must concur.
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this is embarassing for the "man" who exposed himself online. jesus christ people not everything needs to be shown to the world, have your break up in private. this is only slightly less embarrassing than the "we broke up" yt videos that certain "influencers" feel they need to make.
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Hey look everyone, we found the person who gets to decide what people should share about themselves!
Must be a fun job.
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As a society...people share WAY more than they used to in just a few decades back.
Many of us long for those days...
If enough people express "enough is enough"...perhaps societal pressure will encourage people to go back to having a bit of modicum and decency....and not feel they have to share everything....'cause most of us just don't wanna hear it.
Some things should be embarrassing an
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hey look we found the sensitive little bitch. you should be embarrassed of your response.
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You can't handle someone talking about breaking up but I'm the sensitive one. Ok then!
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just go be embarrassed somewhere privately. its better for everyone.
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You're telling someone who chose to share this, and therefore is not embarrassed by it, that they should be embarrassed somewhere else. Clearly it's you who would be embarrassed in that situation so I agree, you should go somewhere else.
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you are embarrassing yourself, please for the love of god go do this somewhere else! people can see this!!
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So you also feel embarrassment on behalf of others merely from posting on /.
You should really seek professional help.
Re: Struggling to understand (Score:2)
I think the point of his post is that just because you can do something does not necessarily mean you actually should do that thing. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences and all that jazzâ¦
Where you came up with the idea that the OP was looking to police what people say online is beyond me.
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We belong dead
You first! :)
Don't shoot the messenger (Score:5, Insightful)
That some people think it's okay to break up over text is what's actually dystopian. Having an AI assistant on your phone that summarizes your texts, isn't.
Re:Don't shoot the messenger (Score:4, Interesting)
We keep being told that AIs are superhuman capable intelligences, and yet they are dumber than a brick every time that common sense is required.
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If the AI assistant is too stupid to realize that the breakup texts should be passed verbatim to the recipient ASAP
Well, there is your problem sir. You believe that current AI has ANY sort of awareness. It does not. It is merely 'flexible' algorithms at this point.
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Why should they? This sounds great. The important points in two short sentences, and if you want the blah blah hand wringing you can go wade through the originals.
Now, if it had made a mistake....
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The AI follows instructions. Obviously nobody instructed it not to summarize breakup messages.
LLM instructions are just like code: If you didn't tell the computer that there is an edge case to be handled, then it will treat the edge case like all other cases.
It is a text model and not an AGI. It does what you tell it, but it seldom does more than you tell it to do. And in most cases you do not want the LLM to make up its own instructions.
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You don't see a problem with giving the texts of other people so little consideration that you think a two half-sentence summary adequately represents their importance to you? Can't imagine why she broke up with him. He even used the breakup for internet points.
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He's a bad person because he used auto-summarize: Really, that's your standard?
He walked-out on her: Intelligent people know how important her texts are. Your surprise says more about you.
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TL;DR.
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Is the auto-summarizing even a feature you can disable, or is it so new that he'd turned it on to see how it works and if it's useful for most of the stuff he receives?
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It's in iOS 18.1 beta, which rolls out most of the new Apple AI features. Presumably, if he's gone through the trouble to install it, he's intentionally trying the new features.
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Its a break up text. That is kind of a unique situation. Lets be honest the whole 'win them back' thing virtually does not happen in the dating context. If you have been married (or even cohabitating a long time) and have a 'life together' there might be convincing some to reevaluate their choice.
However in the context of the situation here, the other party has already elected to 'terminate' the relationship. The healthiest thing for him to do and honestly best thing for both parties is to accept it and
Re:Don't shoot the messenger (Score:5, Insightful)
What strikes me is that he claims this to be "awful situation", yet he is more interested in talking about his iPhone 15 Pro, and that it was on HIS BIRTHDAY, and talking about it feels to use Apple's newest assistant, rather than doing what people are normally doing in awful situations: talking about how it feels to be in a breakup; or just not talking about it, because he's devastated and still crying.
Additionally, in the full story they argue in a bar and he leaves. He interrupted the conversation, which explains why the partner has to use electronic means.
Re:Don't shoot the messenger (Score:5, Insightful)
he is more interested in talking about his iPhone 15 Pro, and that it was on HIS BIRTHDAY, and talking about it feels to use Apple's newest assistant, rather than doing what people are normally doing in awful situations
Precisely. The entire story, in a nutshell: Douche-canoe does something douchey then brags about how awesome he is because of his douchey tech thing, but much sad. So terrible.
Yet here it is... submitted and upvoted on /. because.... humanity is basically garbage.
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wow you're also incredibly stupid. [snipped]
Welcome to the discussion, Mr Spreen.
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Exactly what did this guy do that was douchey? Rather than escalate an argument in a public place and say or do something he regretted, while simultaneously ruining the atmosphere for everyone else in the bar, he removed himself from the volatile situation so that he could process what was happening on his own. You and the parent poster are being extremely judgmental against him for a situation in which you have little to no context.
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Not only is that logic very spurious, but it paints with an awfully wide brush.
I still don't understand how walking away from a dispute in public rather than making a large scene in front of everyone makes him a "shit" or "douche".
You haven
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You could go all Lacan psychoanalyst and say he didn't really have a girlfriend, he had a mirror of himself. Or you could accept that people and situations are complex and you don't have a good handle on what happened, since you didn't actually talk to even one of the people who were there.
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yet he is more interested in talking about his iPhone 15 Pro, and that it was on HIS BIRTHDAY,
Jesus you're thick. He was answering questions you dumbshit. He's not a politician. He doesn't just go on a spiel about whatever he wants when asked a direct question. He gave a direct answer.
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It's a GUY...we don't generally do that type of shit, that's for the girls....
He's likely busy trying to get laid by someone new...again, he's a guy.
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That some people think it's okay to break up over text is what's actually dystopian. Having an AI assistant on your phone that summarizes your texts, isn't.
This goes along with people whining they have to work from home rather than in the office, or that they can go on vacation without informing their boss.
It's called entitlement. They believe they're entitled to do whatever they want because they might otherwise be inconvenienced in the slightest. That and all the fake "anxiety" about having to make a phone call or talk to someone in person.
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I've heard this expressed before, and I just don't get it.
Seems that doing it via text is less painful and less messy for BOTH parties....
Why would you possibly want this done in person?
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I'm waiting for the day when my interactions with the AI assistant go like:
Me: AI, please summarize the unread messages from my girlfriend. What is she on about?
AI: You really don't want to know.
I'm missing something (Score:2)
I don't understand how he'd have learned about the breakup from a summary of texts that apparently had previously been sent to him. Did he somehow manage to not read these texts his girlfriend had already sent to him?
Was he in the habit of not reading messages from her, and just asking for a summary of them? If so, he comes across like a douche. Actually even without it, TFS makes him sound rather like a douche.
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I don't understand how he'd have learned about the breakup from a summary of texts that apparently had previously been sent to him. Did he somehow manage to not read these texts his girlfriend had already sent to him?
Was he in the habit of not reading messages from her, and just asking for a summary of them? If so, he comes across like a douche. Actually even without it, TFS makes him sound rather like a douche.
"...he delivered his own summary of his girlfriend's messages. "It was something along the lines of i can't believe you just did that, we're done, i want my stuff..."
Oh, it sounds like he's perfectly aware of what she sent. The real groundbreaking news here is apparently that the AI wasn't wrong.
This is an attention-whore story equivalent to "OMG, Stable Diffusion just produced a picture and look... the right number of fingers!"
Note: I have not followed the links and viewed the texts myself because.
This guy is lucky (Score:5, Insightful)
Some people are stuck in a toxic relationship with the kind of partner who would wait for your birthday to dump you and kick you out for years. This guy got out. Lucky him. Shitty birthday present but for the best.
Texts are too long now? (Score:5, Insightful)
Have we reached the point where people need a summary of a 150 character message?
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Re: Texts are too long now? (Score:3, Interesting)
150 character messages are so 90s, with the advent of MMS people started using text as email. Now we are happy to get a feature that makes a 150 character summary of the walls of text we get on a daily basis.
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Have we reached the point where people need a summary of a 150 character message?
Yes.
(I would have written a longer message, but it would have been misunderstood... as usual)
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Here is a summary of the key points regarding the topics "Texts are too long now?" and "Have we reached the point where people need a summary of a 150 character message?":
"Texts are too long now?"
There is a perception that text messages have become increasingly lengthy, moving away from the concise, abbreviated style of early texting.
Potential reasons include larger smartphone screens, blurring of communication modes, and a desire for more expressive
And again (Score:2)
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The summary is only for lock screen notifications, and it isn't limited to text messages. Yes, I think it's helpful to see a summary (of multiple messages even) if I haven't checked my phone in a while.
Necessary? Of course not. Nice to have? Sure.
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Have we reached the point where people need a summary of a 150 character message?
Texts haven't been limited to 150 characters for a long time. MMS, iMessage, WhatsApp, and let's not pretend you can't just ...
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... send multiple messages if you hit a character limit.
I'm more interested in the other way round (Score:2)
Breakups hurt no matter how they are packaged. Honestly, it's probably better to get the gist initially, and then read all the wordy twaddle.
I would think the other person is who would be more upset about AI summarization.
Because people seem to hate being summarized like that, even (or especially?) if it's accurate.
A. "So basically, you're saying it was all my fault?"
B. {offended} "No, I didn't say that! I just said {a bunch of reasons that it is all your fault and none of mine}"
A. "So you are saying
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C. Ok..so, since we're broken up....do you mind if I bang your friend Linda.....?"
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Limits rants and games? (Score:2)
And some people want (Score:3, Insightful)
Purpose-built nuclear reactors to power these 1960s-level ELIZA stunts?
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#TehFuture !!!
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Purpose built reactors aren't doing this. For every one worthless ELIZA stunt there are actual good uses for this tech. The douchcanoe using it to summarise his breakup text is it, but the power that went into developing the model goes far beyond this worthless story.
Re: And some people want (Score:1)
Why do you say ELIZA always tries to rephrase your statement into a therapeutic question?
Great security (Score:2)
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This is most likely done locally which is why it's only available on 15 Pro and 16 series iPhones. But Apple has also gone out of their way [apple.com] to make their server-side processing private when additional power is necessary.
translate from wife to husband (Score:2)
Rather than listening to ten minutes of the illogical, I could tune out and glance at my phone for translation:
"I'm upset, but I don't want to explain why. You should already know."
Next Up: AI Led Support Groups (Score:3)
for folks dumped by their AI Companions
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What I find more crazy is the prescription-only app for major depressive disorder https://www.rejoyn.com/ [rejoyn.com]
This is exactly the kind of story I'd expect. . . (Score:2)
At least it didn't say (Score:2)
Nothing AI can't fix (Score:1)
I asked an AI to write a respectfull text message using this summary:
I hope you're doing well. I've given our relationship a lot of thought lately, and after much consideration, I have come to the difficult decision to end things between us. It's not because there's anything wrong with you - please know that I still care about you deeply. But I feel that we are no longer compatible as partners moving forward.
This wasn't an easy choice for me, but it feels like the right thing to do at this point in my life.
Dystopian (Score:1)
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Internet lore (Score:2)
New internet rule: Rule 304.
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These rules are adding up fast...!
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It's hard to understand at the time how an intelligent, sweet woman could end a
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The difference between a five star hotel room and a motel is not something a man gives a huge shit about, but you can easily see on a woman's face what that does to her confidence in the future.
Spending a lot of time in motels with disappointed women? :-)
Also, I'm male and would prefer a five-star hotel than motel, especially if I'm not paying for it. Just sayin' ...
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I'm saying women are generally not users and gold diggers. They're just really sensitive to changes in environment, and start to distance themselves if they think a situation is becoming unstable. Which can look to us like their libido is suddenly inactive because the money
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This particular breakup was over an angry argument in a bar. Which means alcohol was involved, likely to diminish further the male ability to understand what they're doing wrong. So the girl thinks the relationship is based upon trust and mutual emotional support, the guy thinks it's based on banging a lot, then there's a big blow up fight and the inevitable breakup, leaving the guy to wonder "was it something I said?" Yes. Yes it was.
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Re: Par for the course... (Score:2)
Re: Par for the course... (Score:5, Informative)
Do t be daft. It sounds like they were having and argument in a bar, and he decided to withdraw.
It's not like he left her alone in a forest with nothing but her boots and an empty waterskin.
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...abandoned women will end up trafficked to other countries. Food for thought maybe
...or used for food as those dogs and cats were... right?
MAGA!!!
Re: Par for the course... (Score:3, Insightful)
What the actual fuck. Maybe don't go to those areas at all then.
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Re: Par for the course... (Score:1)
Not everyone has the privilege to avoid areas crawling with human traffickers?
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It's not like he left her alone in a forest with nothing but her boots and an empty waterskin.
Considering that some women say they'd rather be with bears than men, maybe he should have done just that.
Re: Par for the course... (Score:4, Funny)
The bears go to the gay bar down the street, and in general will be very supportive if she shows up there crying.
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Can you blame women? After what men [apnews.com] do [telegraph.co.uk] to [yahoo.com] them [yahoo.com], they probably would be safer with bear.