Siri, the virtual digital assistant that debuted on the iPhone 4s in 2011, was once a source of wonder and excitement for iPhone users. However, over the years, Siri has become more of a nuisance than a helper, especially when compared to its rival, Google Assistant. Every year, Apple fans hope that the company has made some significant improvements to Siri, beyond changing its voice or accent. 2024 could be the year that their hopes are finally fulfilled.
According to tech blogger yeux1122 (via tom’s guide), Apple will unveil some new generative AI capabilities for Siri at WWDC 2024, which is expected to take place in June. These capabilities are based on Apple’s internal Ajax model, which is a deep learning framework that can generate natural language and images. Siri will also get “more personalization and natural conversations”, according to yeux1122. However, it is unclear what this means for the average Siri user and whether it will address any of the major issues that plague Siri.
One of the most common complaints that Siri users have is that Siri often fails to provide direct answers to their queries, instead directing them to web pages that they have to open on their phones. Another issue is that Siri sometimes mishears or misunderstands the user’s voice commands, resulting in incorrect or irrelevant responses. A rumored microphone upgrade for Siri is supposed to help with this problem. Yet another issue is that Siri sometimes gives wrong or outdated answers to factual questions, such as the weather, sports scores, or trivia. For example, a Reddit user with the username “KaiTak98” reported that he asked Siri to stop playing music on his HomePod, but Siri replied, “Sorry, I can’t stop now.”
Yeux1122 also claims that Siri will get another AI feature that will allow users to seamlessly continue their conversations with Siri across different Apple devices, such as iPhones, iPads, and Macs. However, it remains to be seen whether these AI enhancements and upgrades will make Siri a better and more reliable digital assistant. Personally, I would be satisfied if Siri could answer more questions with simple and accurate sentences, without requiring me to open web pages or apps. Other tasks, such as setting alarms, timers, and other preferences, seem to work fine with Siri.
Regardless of whether Apple manages to fix its problematic virtual digital assistant, we are eager to see what AI innovations Apple will showcase for Siri at WWDC 2024. By the way, yeux1122 is not the first social media leaker to reveal that Apple will announce AI features for Siri at WWDC. In November, @Tech_Reve said the same thing, but added that the improved version of Siri will only be available on the iPhone 16 series and future models.