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Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

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11–20 of 271 posts

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#11
It doesn't surprise me that Siri continues to be bad - Apple's current plan is to use a low-quality LLM to build a top-quality product, which turned out to be impossible.

What does surprise me is that Google Home is still so bad. They rolled out the new Gemini-based version, but if anything it's even worse than the old one. Same capabilities but more long-winded talking about them. It is still unable to answer basic questions like "what timer did you just cancel".

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#14
I feel like the difference between Steve Jobs’ and Tim Cook’s leadership styles is that Cook is really good at optimizing existing processes, but does not have the vision to capitalize on what’s next.

Apple got into the smartphone game at the right time with a lot of new ideas. But whatever the next big shift in technology is, they will be left behind. I don’t know if that is AI, but it’s clear that in AI they are already far behind other companies.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#15
post #12

Is it not impressive what xai did with Grok? It's already integrated into twitter and my Tesla. So quickly? What prevented apple from doing the same but building out their equivalent of grok?

This is not a bad example. Tesla is indeed running a custom LLM, available in their vehicles, capable of acting as a general chatbot and issuing commands to the car, developed in-house. While Grok is not up-to-par with other frontier models, it's certainly far beyond Siri.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#17
post #14

I feel like the difference between Steve Jobs’ and Tim Cook’s leadership styles is that Cook is really good at optimizing existing processes, but does not have the vision to capitalize on what’s next. Apple got into the smartphone game at the right time with a lot of new ideas. But whatever the next big shift in technology is, they will be left behind. I don’t know if that is AI, but it’s clear that in AI they are al…

It's easy: make my life easier.

Instead they choose to optimize for shareholder value.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#18
post #14

I feel like the difference between Steve Jobs’ and Tim Cook’s leadership styles is that Cook is really good at optimizing existing processes, but does not have the vision to capitalize on what’s next. Apple got into the smartphone game at the right time with a lot of new ideas. But whatever the next big shift in technology is, they will be left behind. I don’t know if that is AI, but it’s clear that in AI they are al…

To be fair no one has solved ai assistant at consumer level yet.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#19

Not sure whether it's a language/pronounciation issue but for 15 years since siri was released i have not seen a single person using it successfully without having to yell at it for not waking up or not understanding the request correctly

I was cleaning up room today and while wiping dust from bookshelf homepod sits on, siri out of blue goes with "I thought so".

It'll be 15 years this October and I can't still use siri with my language.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#20
I got myself an iPhone 16 Pro because of the promised AI features. I had a vision in my mind of what it ought be like:

While driving past a restaurant, I wanted to know if they were open for lunch and if they had gluten-free items on their menu.

I asked the "new" Siri to check this for me while driving, so I gave it a shot.

"I did some web searches for you but I can't read it out to you while driving."

Then what on earth is its purpose if not that!? THAT! That is what it's for! It's meant to be a voice assistant, not a laptop with a web browser!

I checked while stopped, and it literally just googled "restaurant gluten free menu" and... that's it. Nothing specific about my location. That's nuts.

Think about what data and access the phone has:

1. It knows I'm driving -- it is literally plugged into the car's Apple CarPlay port.

2. It knows where I am because it is doing the navigating.

3. It can look at the map and see the restaurant and access its metadata such as its online menu.

4. Any modern LLM can read the text of the web page and summarize it given a prompt like "does this have GF items?"

5. Text-to-voice has been a thing for a decade now.

How hard can this be? Siri seems to have 10x more developer effort sunk into refusing to do the things it can already do instead of... I don't know... just doing the thing.

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