[Source illustration: Chiken Brave/Getty Images] Users of Apple’s Siri would probably agree the talking assistant hasn’t progressed much since it was first introduced in September of 2011. In fact, on certain days, Siri seems actually to have gotten less intelligent, more prone to misconstrue requests or to respond sluggishly. Certainly, Siri has not lived up to the loftiest expectations we all had for its evolution.
That’s a big problem for Apple, which lead the pack in voice assistants but now faces formidable competition from OpenAI, Microsoft’s artificial intelligence partner, and from Alphabet’s Google. On Monday, OpenAI debuted GPT-4o , which has an impressive synthesized voice, and the ability to process pictures and maintain a continuous stream of assistant tasks.
Google followed Tuesday with the latest version of its Gemini program, with similarly impressive voice abilities. It’s possible Siri could be sideswiped by Google Pixel phones using Gemini, but also by OpenAI on non-Apple devices, including a rumored OpenAI phone (or if Microsoft ever revives its failed Windows Phone.)
The story is not over for Siri, however. Apple CEO Tim Cook has hinted at things to come next month at the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference (a virtual-only event ). Although not leading in the science of AI to date, Apple has made significant offerings in machine learning research, so it’s worth considering what the company might have up its sleeve.
On the simplest level, rumors have circulated that Apple will license the technology of either OpenAI or Google. GPT-4o or Gemini could be a drop-in upgrade for Siri, which would be a boost for all iPhone users given the sorry state of Siri.
As the number-one or number-two phone maker in any given quarter, vying with Samsung, which licenses Google’s Android operating system, Apple has a lot to offer the user of on-device AI.
An assistant that can competently follow sequential steps of instruction could be instructed to “choose a photo of my living room and email it to Nikki, with the message, ‘Check out the new sofa.’” The assistant could be corrected where it selected one particular pic when in fact I’d like it to […]
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