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Few features have promised to revolutionize the way we interact with our Apple devices as much as Siri, the company's ubiquitous virtual assistant. Launched in 2011, Siri was introduced as heralding a new era in human-computer interaction, offering an intuitive voice-controlled interface for accessing information, scheduling appointments, sending messages, and much more. The vision was grand: A personal assistant in your pocket, capable of understanding and acting upon a wide array of voice commands with ease and accuracy. So what happened? Enthusiasm for Siri has undeniably waned in the intervening years. Despite regular updates and improvements from Apple, Siri has struggled to keep pace with its advancing rivals, and in an era of generative AI chatbots and large language models, Siri's failings have only been magnified. Issues ranging from misinterpreted commands to limited contextual understanding have not only hindered Siri's usability but have also led to an almost universal perception of the virtual assistant as a source of user frustration rather than assistance. This persistent underperformance begs the question: Is it time for Apple to kill Siri and start over? Siri's Birth Pangs Siri's conceptual roots at Apple can be traced back to the company's early exploration of human-computer interaction. Thirty years ago, Apple commissioned a group of employees to create a video showing how in the future humans might interact with computers using spoken language. The video, known as "Knowledge Navigator," featured a professor chatting with a virtual assistant to perform everyday tasks and academic research. In one of the tasks, the professor asks the assistant to search for a five-year-old publication. The assistant pulls up an article dated 2006, suggesting the video is supposed to be set in September 2011. The video was criticized at the time for being an unrealistic portrayal of the capacities of a virtual assistant in the foreseeable future. Yet the demonstration inspired developers Adam Cheyer, Dag Kittlaus, and Tom Gruber, who began AI research on virtual assistants at SRI International, a DARPA-funded research laboratory in Menlo Park, California. Their work would result in a spin-out called Siri, named by Kittlaus after a co-worker in Norway. (Siri is short for Sigrid, which has its origins in Old Norse for words meaning "victory" and "beautiful".) In February 2010, Kittlaus launched Siri as an app on Apple's App Store. Steve Jobs soon began playing with the app and was impressed with how it allowed the user to search the internet by voice. A few weeks later, Apple acquired the start-up. Siri's AI backend was in place, while its voice recognition technology would be supplied by Nuance Communications. Apple subsequently released its Siri virtual assistant (in beta) for the iPhone 4S in October 2011, just one month later than the fictional future in which Knowledge Navigator had been originally envisioned. Fiction vs. Reality Apple marketed Siri as more than just a tool — it was your intelligent assistant ready to help with a variety of tasks. Whether setting reminders, sending texts, making phone calls, or finding information online, Siri aimed to streamline it all with a simple voice command. There was nothing like it at the time and the initial results were impressive, but the underlying promise was that Siri would not only understand you but also learn from you, becoming more efficient and personalized over time. Regular iOS updates in the intervening years have worked towards making Siri more effective and realizing its original promise. Whenever a new iOS feature comes along, Apple usually ensures that it works with Siri, and these days it can be used to identify songs, get driving directions, send money via Apple Pay, and control HomeKit products, to name just a few of its skills. In 2021, Apple announced that Siri would work offline by default – whenever possible, it would process user requests on-device, with the same quality of server-based speech recognition. However, even now, the assistant that was supposed to understand context and grow with the user still faces significant challenges with context, understanding, and integration, regardless of whether it pings Apple's servers or processes requests locally. Many Apple device owners often say it struggles with even basic commands. Indeed, many users believe that, at least in some areas, Siri's abilities have gotten worse over time, especially since the release of iOS 17. It is astounding how bad it is. Even things that used to work fine like asking Siri to send a text message now don’t seem to work consistently anymore. Sometimes she asks me if I want to use the phone number or email, and other times it just tries to call the person. Sigh. — Joseph Bella (@jbella) March 20, 2024 Michael Tsai's blog has done a good job of recording users' more recent frustrations with Siri. Here are just a handful of serial issues some users have recently reported: Setting timers instead of alarms. Bungling music requests (even for purchases that Siri has local access to). Delayed responses over fast data connections. Nonsense responses to conversion requests. Creating notes instead of reminders. Acknowledging requests without acting on them. Overwrought punctuation when dictating. Inability to consistently control smart devices.The list could go on. But has Siri really gotten more stupid? Could most issues be put down to fringe use cases, or over-expectations in a brave new world of chatbots powered by immensely resource-heavy large-language models? Consider what Walt Mossberg said in 2016, writing for The Verge: Before Apple bought it, Siri was on the road to being a robust digital assistant that could do many things, and integrate with many services — even though it was being built by a startup with limited funds and people. After Apple bought Siri, the giant company seemed to treat it as a backwater, restricting it to doing only a few, slowly increasing number of tasks, like telling you the weather, sports scores, movie and restaurant listings, and controlling the device's functions. ...On too many occasions, Siri either gets things wrong, doesn't know the answer, or can't verbalize it. Instead, it shows you a web search result, even when you're not in a position to read it.Many users would agree that very little has changed in the past eight years. AI Hopes on the Horizon Apple's next major software update, iOS 18, is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri that will assist users in their daily lives. "Generative AI" is the key term here. The concept surged in popularity in late 2022, when OpenAI released its ChatGPT chatbot that can reply to questions and prompts with unnervingly nuanced human-like responses. The company has since expanded into generative AI tools for images and videos. One leaker has suggested that Apple is planning to use large-language models to entirely revamp Siri and turn it into the "ultimate virtual assistant." Rumors suggest that improvements could come in the form of better natural conversation capabilities (potentially aided by an improved iPhone microphone) and improved user personalization. The new functionality is expected to be available across devices, so Siri may retain conversation information from one device to another. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, one of the specific features Apple is developing is an improved interaction between Siri and the Messages app, which would let Siri auto-complete sentences more effectively and answer complex questions. However, more recent reports have claimed that Apple is not planning to debut its own generative AI chatbot. Apple has reportedly held discussions with companies such as Google, OpenAI, and Baidu about potential generative AI partnerships, but Apple's first set of new AI features in iOS 18 will not rely on cloud servers at all, according to Gurman. Move Over Siri? Whether or not a groundbreaking incarnation of Apple's virtual assistant is on the cards, given the persistent issues that have tarnished Siri's reputation, could a new name and branding help Apple distance itself from past failures? The idea of rebranding Siri into something entirely new has been floated by some observers in the tech world. Josh Johnson's blunt assessment echoes a common sentiment: "I honestly think Apple should kill the Siri brand. I'm not sure it can recover from the universal understanding that it’s just not good." He suggests the introduction of an LLM-powered assistant under a new name, proposing a fresh start to overcome the negative associations that currently plague Siri. Ty Belisle supports a drastic transformation, noting, "I've thought they should make a very bold 'Siri 2.0' announcement, but it's true the name Siri is so spoiled that they should ditch it." He also points out the practical benefits of a new name, such as reducing accidental activations — a problem that shorter names like "Siri" often face. John Gruber's perspective underscores the importance of first impressions and the long-term effects of Siri's underwhelming performance: "First impressions really matter, but in Siri's case, it's over a decade of lived experience." If Apple has significantly improved its voice technology, he argues, it should be introduced under a new brand to signify a clean break from the past. These voices present a compelling case for rebranding, but Apple would face significant risks if it introduced a new virtual assistant. Siri is deeply integrated into Apple's ecosystem and recognized worldwide. Abandoning the brand could confuse and alienate existing users who are accustomed to the name and functionality, despite its flaws. That being said, unlike Amazon's Alexa and Google's assistant, Siri has become the butt of numerous jokes. A new name and persona for the assistant could potentially revitalize its image, but Apple would have to ensure that any new product lives up to its promises, otherwise another misstep could be potentially disastrous. What are your thoughts about and experiences with Siri? Has its performance gotten better over time as Apple's software has become more complex, or is it in a death spiral? Let us know in the comments.Tag: Siri This article, "Should Apple Kill Siri and Start Over?" first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums View the full article

Twelve years on from its launch, Siri now feels like a modern-day Apple Newton. Both started life as bold new personal assistants, only to stagnate and fall by the wayside. And both have been the butt of jokes on big comedy shows – the Newton was famously skewered on The Simpsons, while Siri has more recently 'starred' in the latest season of Curb your Enthusiasm (warning: the scene in question contains a tirade of expletives). Yet while the Newton was put out of its misery and canceled in 1998, Apple has kept Siri ticking over in our iPhones. Well, barely – anyone who's used Siri will have their own tale of frustration about its seemingly diminishing IQ. Apple can't let this continue. And fortunately, the evidence is mounting that we'll finally get a Siri reboot (or at least, a makeover) at WWDC 2024. Apple is strongly hinting that AI and, to a lesser extent, Siri will be at the forefront of its annual developer's conference. Its SVP of Marketing Greg Joswiak posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the event will be "Absolutely Incredible", with the capitalization unsubtly spelling AI. Plus, the promo's typography (below) also has echoes of Siri's color scheme. (Image credit: Apple) But a wave of credible rumors and Apple's own machine learning research also support the theory that Siri could soon become, if not great, then at least not an anachronistic embarrassment. How exactly might Apple reboot Siri in June? It's a long road back. Every time I've spoken to ChatGPT's baked-in Voice function I've marveled at how natural it feels in comparison. The trouble is, ChatGPT doesn't have direct access to iOS for controlling my phone (unless you use Shortcuts). And Apple seemingly doesn't have the generative AI chops – or the willingness to compromise on privacy – to do proper cloud-based AI. The solution is likely to be a compromise, combining Apple's latest on-device machine learning with third-party AI models like Google Gemini. That might result in a full Siri reinvention, but if it rescues the voice assistant from its current malaise, that'd be good enough for me... A private chat A Siri reboot isn't certain at WWDC 2024, with the latest rumors a little confusing. This week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claimed that Apple "isn't planning to debut its own generative AI chatbot" at WWDC 2024. But that doesn't mean Apple isn't planning some Siri upgrades. Apple has never seen Siri as a chatbot like ChatGPT – since June 2021, the voice assistant has processed our questions on-device by default. "This addresses one of the biggest privacy concerns for voice assistants, which is unwanted audio recording" Apple said in a press release at the time. Apple almost certainly won't have changed its mind since then. So the improvements to Siri's on-device performance will have to come from Apple – and there's evidence that the tech giant has been exploring this. Mark your calendars for #WWDC24, June 10-14. It’s going to be Absolutely Incredible! pic.twitter.com/YIln5972ZDMarch 26, 2024 See more Last week, Apple researchers published a March 2024 paper that tested whether or not it's possible for voice assistants to ditch trigger words like 'Siri' and instead use on-device AI to tell whether you're speaking to your phone or someone else. This followed Apple's quiet publication of a family of multimodal models (AI models that can simultaneously interpret different types of data) called MM1. For the voice assistant paper, Apple's researchers trained a large language model (LLM), based partly on OpenAI's GPT-2, to look for voice patterns that signify whether or not we're asking for help from our phone. That's pretty futuristic stuff. While the results were promising, it's likely too soon for this kind of tech to find its way into iOS 18 or our iPhones. Still, Apple is clearly working hard on voice assistant tech and we'll likely see some of the fruits of this at WWDC 2024. Only six months ago, Apple was rapidly increasing its spending on conversational AI to "millions of dollars per day", according to a report from The Information. Given the rapid advances of its rivals, some of this investment will surely go towards improving Siri. (Image credit: Apple) New Siri announcements also haven't been completely extinct in recent months. In December 2023, Apple announced that its new S9 SiP (system in a package) meant the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 could "now process Siri requests on device". This meant you could now ask Siri about over 20 health data markers, because your data wouldn't leave the smartwatch. None of this is the work of a company that's given up on its voice assistant. The question is what Apple will do about the bigger part of the puzzle – answering queries that on-device Siri won't be able to answer... I'm not sure I understand... If Siri can't answer a question, you can ask it to search the web for you. This is where Apple might be looking to outsource to an external AI model to help with more challenging queries – with Bloomberg predicting that this could be Google Gemini in the US and Europe, with Apple also in talks with Baidu in China according to the Wall Street Journal. Bloomberg's report says this generative AI "heavy lifting" could include functions like "creating images and writing essays based on simple prompts". But these AI features will be delivered via the cloud, with Apple still using its own AI models to process on-device functions and Siri actions. (Image credit: Shutterstock/Tada Images) This mooted Google Gemini deal wouldn't be unusual for Apple. The tech giant doesn't have its own search engine, so it's long had an agreement (reportedly worth $18 billion a year) with Google for it to be the default option on Safari. That deal is now under threat from EU regulators. Bloomberg says that a similar deal for Google's Gemini AI models would simply build on this existing partnership between Apple and Google – again, if regulators allow it. It could even be a convenient replacement for that current deal between the tech giants, if it doesn't crumble from the pressure of regulatory scrutiny. Whatever happens with these talks, Apple seems unable to solve the whole generative AI puzzle on its own – and unwilling to shift its stance on privacy. That will likely mean some compromises for an upgraded Siri, rather than a giant leap. Baby steps The thing is, I'm not demanding (or expecting) a full Siri relaunch at WWDC 2024. All I want is for Apple to acknowledge Siri's existence, make it less cloth-eared, and lay out how it's going to make it a more conversational iPhone assistant. Right now, Siri is a brake on the potential of products like the AirPods and Apple Vision Pro, but it can start turning over a new leaf in iOS 18. For years, Siri has been held back by internal squabbles, a lack of tech breakthroughs, and the wider problem that voice assistants don't generate much revenue. But if Apple does, as the rumors suggest, outsource some of its generative AI features to the likes of Gemini AI, then it could play catch-up while reducing its liability when the occasional controversy inevitably strikes. (Image credit: Apple) None of this would rocket Siri towards being a voice assistant leader. But it'd be enough to keep Apple in the AI game, while reinvigorating one of the iPhone's most frustrating features. At this point, Siri is damaging Apple's reputation, so WWDC 2024 has to be a tipping point one way or the other. Tim Cook has already promised during an earnings call with Apple's annual shareholders that the company will "break new ground" this year in generative AI. While that doesn't necessarily refer to Siri, could Apple do all of that while leaving Siri as it is? I don't think so. And while Cook said the technology will "unlock transformative opportunities for our users", I'm just hoping it'll turn Siri into more than just a cooking timer. You might also like There's one big reason why Apple won't use Google Gemini – and it's not just about privacy10 years of Siri: the history of Apple's voice assistantWithout a Siri brain transplant, Apple will lose the AI war View the full article