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Why does Siri seem so dumb?

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Re: Why does Siri seem so dumb?

#21

Post by jimbokun »

captainmuon wrote: post #10

What I don't understand is why we don't try to solve this using a huge fact database derived from natural language parsing of the web. Basically the same approach as deep learning - something that was unfeasible 20 years ago, but due to massive improvements in processing power now works. What I'm thinking of is basically SHRDLU [1] on steroids. Parse a ton of web pages. There are great natural language parsers that c…

Obviously there's still a long way to go, but yes, Google is working on everything you suggest and more.

This is actually Google's bread and butter, and why Mossberg found so many cases where Google Now does better than Siri. It's not clear how Apple can catch up, either, given Google's massive advantage in training data.

Re: Why does Siri seem so dumb?

#22

Post by shopkins »

LA_Banker wrote: post #12
bobviolier wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are asking specifically for _who_ somebody is, it should tell you who that person is - not give the contact card, because that card does not tell you who somebody is. At least, that's what I would expect if I asked who somebody is.

I'm presupposing the contact card has their job position/title, and therefore still answers the question – also presupposing the original (odd) premise of wondering who someone already saved in your phone is. The Venn overlap between the set of "contacts in your phone" and "people with Wikipedia bios" is likely rather small. Hence why I think it's a faulty premise to complain about Siri defaulting to contact card whe…

That's not the point either. The point is that if I asked you, a human, "Who is Tim Cook" and you replied "123-555-1212" or "tim@apple.com" I would be a little dumbfounded.

If I'm asking the question - maybe a friend is nearby who doesn't know them and I'm too lazy to explain - then I want to know who they are, not what their contact info is.

Re: Why does Siri seem so dumb?

#23

Post by doublerebel »

Because voice recognition from all the major providers goes at it completely backwards, being ready to answer any of the world's questions in every situation.

In the real world nothing goes like this. We start with context and work outwards from there. And I don't mean know-everything-about-your-personal-life context, there's no need for that either.

I'd say more but that is what I am solving at Optik. We're a bit over a year into development and things are really starting to pick up. Using Cortana in the Hololens is making it painfully obvious just how close but how far off the mark remains most voice command software.

Re: Why does Siri seem so dumb?

#24

Post by vilhelm_s »

shopkins wrote: post #22
LA_Banker wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm presupposing the contact card has their job position/title, and therefore still answers the question – also presupposing the original (odd) premise of wondering who someone already saved in your phone is. The Venn overlap between the set of "contacts in your phone" and "people with Wikipedia bios" is likely rather small. Hence why I think it's a faulty premise to complain about Siri defaulting to contact card whe…

That's not the point either. The point is that if I asked you, a human, "Who is Tim Cook" and you replied "123-555-1212" or "tim@apple.com" I would be a little dumbfounded. If I'm asking the question - maybe a friend is nearby who doesn't know them and I'm too lazy to explain - then I want to know who they are, not what their contact info is.

I could imagine some scenarios when I ask a human assistant "who is Joe Bloggs" and it would be quite reasonable for them to answer "oh you've met him, he even gave you his business card".

Re: Why does Siri seem so dumb?

#25

Post by gxs »

asd wrote: post #19

>>>But I suspect that people don’t ask those questions because, after trying a time or two and getting no answers or wrong answers, they just give up on Siri. Absolutely this. I mean, you try a few of this these "long tail" queries and you eventually say "Fuck it!" I attempt these "long tail" queries (which to me, that term sounds like some shitty play-it-down excuse from Apple) weekly just to see if Apple is finally…

FWIW none of those work with the all mighty google's personal assistant either on my nexus 5x.

Re: Why does Siri seem so dumb?

#26

Post by smrtinsert »

While I ask Android for occasional content (while watching tv, "How tall is blah blah actor" etc) I usually use Androids ability to get my usual directives. "Directions to ..., Weather in..., Call in ..., Set timer for...". It does both very well.

I stay signed out and opted out of all Google Now features and tracking so this is just it does by default. Voice is my primary ui for my phone. It is very useful and I find it parses my input correctly nearly everytime, it's very rare for it to error.

Meanwhile, my wifes iphone 6 gets basic commands wrong frequently and she spends minutes typing all the time. Siri isn't losing, it has lost.

I don't think this actually matters to the iOS population however. It's well known they don't buy iphones for features.

edit: A sample question from the article "when is the presidential debate" is handled fine as an example

Re: Why does Siri seem so dumb?

#28

Post by larrik »

dkyc wrote: post #2

"It also can’t distinguish between the question of “who is” a person and a request for that person’s contact card. For instance, I have a contact card for Apple CEO Tim Cook. When I ask, “Who is Tim Cook?” Siri shows me the contact card, not his bio." Tech reporter humblebrag of the year.

Moreso than the bit where his "Siri doesn't understand my questions" examples no longer work because Apple fixed them when he tweet them screenshots?

Re: Why does Siri seem so dumb?

#30

Post by pwinnski »

>It puts much less emphasis on what it calls “long tail” questions, like the ones I’ve cited above, which in some cases, Apple says, number in only the hundreds each day.

And every one of those "hundreds per day" is another person one step closer to disabling Siri. Which is what I did last month. Siri got things wrong so often, it was worse than useless.

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