New Apple Intelligence ads strain to find the charm in use cases

Apple has followed up its Bella Ramsey spots with a second round of Apple Intelligence ads, this time presenting use cases for the tech—at work and at home—in a pair of spots directed by David Shane. In the spot above, a worker in an office apparently does nothing all day, and when it finally comes time to write a single email to his boss, he relies on Apple Intelligence to rewrite it, masking his lack of competence. A second spot below features a family at home, where Mom has forgotten it’s her husband’s birthday. Overhearing their daughters giving him woodworking presents in the other room, Mom quickly whips up a “Memory Movie” on her iPhone, with pics of past woodworking endeavors, presenting it as something that’s been in the works for a while. The spots aim to show off product features in relatable scenarios, but both of them feel off. Few viewers will identify with the office worker’s laziness, and the notion that AI will turn mediocre workers into “geniuses”—and give them more job security—seems clearly untrue on its face. (This isn’t to say there aren’t great uses of AI at work—there certainly are. But helping the poorest performer skate by shouldn’t be at the top of the list.) The family spot is marginally better, but also feels built on deception. It doesn’t seem like the family is really any closer at the end; indeed, Mom is pulling a fast one while pretending she’s not. Having her strut off in triumph is a curious choice, too. You’d think she’d want to stay and connect if that was the point. Apple is usually sure-footed in weaving emotion into product demos. The missteps here just show how new the technology is—and how difficult it is to be relatable when the scenarios aren’t part of people’s daily lives yet. But if AI’s main selling point is helping us pretend to be what we’re not, we might be in trouble. More Creativity coverage from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

New Apple Intelligence ads strain to find the charm in use cases

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