Is Apple's delay of an AI-driven personalised Siri the canary in the AI coal mine?

John Gruber's piece this week about the current state of Apple is essential reading. It highlights just how badly Apple has messed up with its strategy around Apple Intelligence, announcing features that it hoped would be ready for launch despite not being anywhere near it.

Gruber argues that Apple's premature announcements and subsequent delays have severely damaged its credibility. I agree here: I don't think pundits will be able to trust that what Apple promises is what it will deliver any more.

But the issue here actually goes much, much deeper than just Apple. The entire tech industry has shoehorned "AI" into its products wherever it can. Even if there's not much to say, you can be sure that "AI" is part of the marketing strategy.

The reason is clear: the hype bubble around AI hasn't burst. Yet.

Egged on by private equity companies and shareholders, AI is a billion dollar industry that is burning money (and the environment) to offer... not much at all. Ed Zitron does a fantastic job of breaking down just how little AI actually delivers, much better than I can here, but the TLDR version is that AI is nothing but hype.

And eventually, that hype will end.

Apple has some of the best marketing in the tech industry, and it has pushed Apple Intelligence relentlessly since WWDC last year. But with the indefinite delay of its more personalised Siri offering and the fact its entry level iPad doesn't support the technology, I hope we're starting to see the beginning of the end of the relentless AI marketing.

Because once that's done, tech can start to focus on actually solving problems, rather than pitching us snake oil.

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