Version 18 of Apple’s Safari browser may get AI functionality. On top of that, a host of other new tools are said to be on the way that should improve the browsing experience. The AI feature will probably be introduced under the name “Intelligent Search”.
Apple Safari 18 will get AI features similar to those of the upcoming macOS 15 and iOS 18, writes AppleInsider. Among other things, Intelligent Search will allow users to summarize text on Web pages based on key phrases and the topic at hand. The on-device AI model used for this will likely be Apple’s own Ajax LLM. The model identifies the phrases that explain or describe the topic. Words repeated within the text and key phrases are seen by the model as the topic.
Further, the AI tool does not initially work automatically within Safari 18, but must be activated manually by users from the browser’s also new control menu.
Web Eraser functionality
In addition to Intelligent Search, Safari 18 also gets a range of other tools that should improve the user and browsing experience. All of these will be selectable from a central drop-down menu. Among the expected tools are an improved feature for blocking content or content parts on Web pages.
The Web Eraser feature further remembers which parts are blocked and, on a subsequent visit to the site in question, asks whether the blocking is maintained or undone.
Developments for 2025
For further integration into Safari in 2025, Apple is also looking at a more powerful visual search feature. This feature would allow users to retrieve information about products while searching between images.
This feature would show similarity to that of Visual Lookup, which allows the virtual assistant Siri to identify plants, pets and familiar places.
Also read: Apple set to announce AI plans: what do they entail?