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AppleGranted patentAI & softwareInterest 7/10

Apple patents AI that acts on voicemails for you

Apple has been granted a patent for a system that uses an AI agent to listen to and analyze incoming voicemails. The AI looks at the message content along with past voicemails and current device context to decide what action to take. It then automatically performs that task, such as scheduling an appointment or sending a reply, without the user needing to listen to the message.

Why it mattersThis could make voicemail less of a chore by automatically handling routine calls, though it raises questions about how much control users have over what the AI does on their behalf.

In the filing’s own words

Disclosed is technology that analyzes voicemail data and takes a particular action based on the analysis of the data. For example, a user device (e.g., a smart phone) can receive a voicemail from an external caller and analyze data representative of the voicemail with an artificial intelligence agent. The artificial intelligence agent can utilize contextual data including user device contextual data and past voicemail contextual data to determine the appropriate task to perform based on the voicemail. Based on that determination, the user device can automatically perform the task that is relevant to the voicemail on behalf of the user.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: receiving, by a user device, a voicemail directed to a user associated with the user device; analyzing the voicemail, by an artificial intelligence agent, to determine an action to perform on behalf of the user based on contents of the voicemail, wherein the artificial intelligence agent also utilizes user device context information and a collection of past voicemails to analyze the voicemail to determine the action to perform on behalf of the user based on the contents of the voicemail; outputting, by the artificial intelligence agent, a task that is relevant to the voicemail and that should be performed on behalf of the user; and based on the outputting of the task that is relevant to the voicemail, automatically performing the task that is relevant to the voicemail on behalf of the user.

Facts

Company
Apple (Apple Inc.)
Official title
AI agent in visual voicemail daemon
Patent number
US12726574B2
Application number
18599866
Filed
Mar 8, 2024
Granted
Sep 1, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
21

Classified under

H04M 3/53333 Electricity & electronicsG10L 15/22 Physics & computing

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.