Apple AI alert falsely claims Luke Littler has won darts championship

Occurred: January 2025

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Apple's AI-powered news summary feature, Apple Intelligence, falsely claimed that 17-year-old darts player Luke Littler had won the PDC World Championship before the final match had even been played.

What happened

The false alert was sent to iPhone users on Friday morning, January 3, 2025, making it appear that the BBC was reporting Littler's victory in the championship.

The championship final, which Littler won, was not due to be played until that evening.

The incident is one of a series of inaccuracies generated by Apple Intelligence since its launch in the UK in December 2024, begging questions about its accuracy, reliability and governance.

Why it happened

The error occurred due to limitations in Apple's AI technology used to summarise and group notifications.ย 

Apple Intelligence aims to provide users with a simple round-up of missed alerts, but its AI interpretation of news stories has proven to be unreliable.ย 

What it means

The incident highlights the ongoing challenges and potential dangers of AI-generated news summaries, notably their ability to mislead the public, erode trust in news and information, and damage the credibility of reputable news publishers and broadcasters such as the BBC.

System ๐Ÿค–

Operator:ย 
Developer: Apple
Country: UK
Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts
Purpose: Summarise news
Technology: Generative AI; NLP/text analysis; Machine learning
Issue: Accuracy/reliability; Mis/disinformation