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Apple Working on ChatGPT-Style AI Assistant for Customer Support

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Apple appears to be developing an AI-based "Support Assistant" for the Apple Support app. Signs of the feature were found in Apple code by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris, but the Support Assistant doesn't appear to be live in the app as of yet.

Apple-Support-App-General-Feature.jpg

Apple users will interact with Support Assistant through chats. The Apple Support app already has a chat feature that relies on Messages, but it is used for communicating with Apple's live support agents. Support Assistant would likely allow customers to open the Apple Support app, type in a problem that they're having, and get generative AI-based solutions as a step before contacting a live person. Apple's code says that users will have the option to consult with an Apple advisor for help after using the Support Assistant feature.

The code states that the Support Assistant "uses generative models," and that it will provide answers "related to certain Apple products and services." Apple warns that generative models can sometimes provide "incorrect, misleading, incomplete, offensive, or harmful outputs," and that customers should not rely on information from Support Assistant as a substitute for professional advice.

There is a reference to uploading content, which suggests Support Assistant could allow users to upload images, PDFs, or documents related to support requests. Apple also says that it works with partners to provide Support Assistant, so it's possible that this will be a ChatGPT-powered feature.

There isn't any indication of when the Support Assistant feature might launch, but Apple is already testing a ChatGPT-style generative AI tool for AppleCare support advisors.

That tool, called "Ask," is designed to generate responses to technical questions that advisors receive from customers. Ask brings up information from Apple's internal knowledge base, and advisors are able to ask follow-up questions.

Article Link: Apple Working on ChatGPT-Style AI Assistant for Customer Support
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/08/apple-support-assistant/
I think what most people don’t want is another computer to have to talk to before talking to a real person. Add that to the fact that this model may provide “incorrect, misleading, incomplete, offensive, or harmful outputs” and it just sounds like an outright downgrade in customer service with the intent to hire fewer workers in order to save the company money. At the very least make it optional, but don’t make it a requirement before talking to a live person.
 
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Had to deal with an AI chatbot for Telus (ISP/Phone/TV provider) last week when I was trying to change my TV subscriptions. Only took 45 minutes to get it to pass itself off to a live support person and then another 1.5 hours to finally get them to call me to phone verify my identity so I could cancel a channel subscription (something that should have been an easy five-minute click-through on their website.)

This is the bar that Apple has to cross. It is not very high.
 
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"Apple warns that generative models can sometimes provide "incorrect, misleading, incomplete, offensive, or harmful outputs," and that customers should not rely on information from Support Assistant as a substitute for professional advice."

Then maybe don't make it an option and just hire more support staff.
 
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Yikes...

A sizable amount of Apple's good will in user's minds is their stuff works well and if it doesn't, help is better than anywhere else. Genius Bar for example. Now, the company who can't manage to get a voice assistant to reply correctly to, seemingly, anything is going to turn that support role - and thereby all the reviews and good or bad will enteractions with it generate - over to an AI of it's own making? Or that it even had a hand in making?

This will not end well. Apple is has been noticably off it's mark recently and playing fast and loose with its reputation to try to compensate. So far, it's not going awesomely...

I miss when Apple did a few things exceedingly well. We don't need a dozen iPhones, iPads, and so on, we need two, maybe three, that absolutely rock. I hate that I have to give even an ounce of mental energy to "are these two devices compatible?" now. Nevermind what works and what doesn't with their various services. Splitting up the product line, throwing beta services at the wall to see what sticks, that's some Samsung-, Google-, Microsoft-level BS and for all the things Apple does well, I don't see them finding the magic ingredient which turns FA/FO a viable business strategy.
 
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As long as it doesn't direct me to menu items that don't exist for an hour until I throw the phone at the wall, fine. That's been my experience with actual ChatGPT.
 
Not a good idea. Whether it's something that works wonderful or not, I prefer speaking to a real person. My blood pressure goes up 10 points just when I start hearing those prompts to get to the one place that the system won't take me without pressing 20 buttons, which ends up with me wanting to speak to a person to explain my problem. Just reading this article has made my blood pressure go up 5 points.
 
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Even though it won't be binding, I can already imagine the news article when someone talks the AI into agreeing to a completely free out of warranty repair or free upgrade to the latest device.
 
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platinumaqua said:
The chatbots are unhelpful at that point for me because I've already read through all the relevant support articles at that point. I'm there to contact customer support to schedule a repair or something else.
Click to expand...
Yep. If I'm calling support AT ALL it's because I've got an issue that's almost certainly beyond what tier 1 human support can handle outside of a "yep, that's borked, we'll get you a new one".

And I don't want to have a conversation with a computer. I want the computer to give me the most concise and quickest method to get me to a support article written by an actual human, and if it can't do that, connect me to an actual human who can actually do something.
 
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As long as we have a button to talk to a person if the chatbot isn't helpful. I recently used Apple chat to help me, and I loved it. I don't want to lose the option to chat with a person.
 
This is not good.

I can't stand these bots.

I want to talk with an actual person, not navigate a game of BS back and forth with a computer.
 
So this was the plan all along. Get rid of all those really good, American tech support teams at AppleCare, and replace them with a bot. I've used ChatGPT for many troubleshooting issues, and results have been mixed at best. I'd say about 25% excellent, 50% mediocre and 25% complete fails. Of course it's not Apple-Centric, but can a bot with an algorithm really respond the way a trained AppleCare techie can? And will it allow escalation to one of the remaining techs, if there are any left?
 
Hi Siri, err, Apple Support. My pencil is not working with my iPad Pro.

‘ I’m sorry to hear that, let me see what I can find on the, er, out for you. Pencils when not working to leave legible marks are typically sharpened using a crank or battery operated tapered conical paring device. In lieu of that method, a sharp knife can be carefully used, albeit, usually with less uniform results. Does that answer your question?’
 
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I used ChatGPT recently to solve a very niche/specific issue with an application that was failing to load on Mac OS X Tiger. Giving it console error codes and stuff managed to narrow it down pretty well. Though I wonder if Apple's chatbot would be more restrained to prevent customers from getting too deep into the nitty gritty with this stuff.
 
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IF and this is a big IF the AI is only used for screening problems before handling over to a human, then this could be not disastrous, but merely annoying. This is a common use case for AI chat support, and as much as I hate it, it seems to be… not as horrible as it could be

I’d still rather talk to an incompetent human than a robot any day
 
Sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen. Is Apple trying to find the worst possible ways to use AI?
 
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