A Reddit post has sparked discussion about the reliability and usefulness of AI features in consumer technology. The original poster shared an experience with Apple Intelligence, which summarizes emails. After re-enabling the feature following an update, the user encountered a distressing error.
Apple Intelligence incorrectly summarized an email about funeral arrangements for a deceased relative as “critically ill,” causing confusion and emotional distress for the user. As a result, the poster decided to permanently disable the AI-powered email summary function.
A comment on the post expanded the criticism to the broader AI trend in the tech industry. The commenter likened the current AI wave to the “Emperor’s New Clothes” fable, saying that many AI capabilities are overvalued and unnecessary. They questioned the need for AI to summarize short text messages or news headlines, describing these as “useless baby stuff” that no one was asking for.
The comment also criticized tech companies for investing heavily in what it called “made up baby problems” instead of addressing real user needs. It suggested that companies are driven more by fear of missing out on the AI trend than by genuine innovation or customer demand. The commenter expressed surprise that no major company has pushed back against what they see as a “silly wave” in the tech industry.
This post and its accompanying comment reflect growing concerns among some users about the practical value and reliability of AI in everyday technology. It also highlights skepticism about the motivations behind the current AI push in the tech industry, questioning whether these new capabilities truly address user needs or simply serve corporate interests.