Apple Exec Overseeing Siri Departs Role

[hipnetic]

So long, and don't let the door hit you on the ass.

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

Please terminate Siri. I rather have silence than Siri.

The mercy killing of Siri! Euthanasia!
[No one will blame you.]

 

[Act3]

Please terminate Siri. I rather have silence than Siri.

then turn it off in settings, problem solved. Apple isn't forcing you to use it.

 

[radiologyman]

Long overdue. Siri needs SIRIous overhaul.

 

[iRutherford]

Apple should hire Alexa’s Exec so Siri could actually become smart. And I’m an Apple fan.

It simply can't be as smart a virtual assistant as Cortana, Alexa or Google Assistant and that's because Apple does not hold on to a user's personal data. If Apple stays with their philosophy and/or views about privacy, you can expect Siri to never be on par with others.

 

[djcerla]

Apple should just use Alexia instead, Siri will never catch up it seems but I know probably would be an issue which sucks

Nope… Alexia is actually alredy behind SIRI, not to mention Cortana. Only Google Assistant is slightly better, and the gap is quickly closing.

 

[1rottenapple]

Adios. Siri is still terrible.

 

[radiologyman]

It simply can't be as smart a virtual assistant as Cortana, Alexa or Google Assistant and that's because Apple does not hold on to a user's personal data. If Apple stays with their philosophy and/or views about privacy, you can expect Siri to never be on par with others.

Why it can not understand most common words? I do voice dictation for living and Siri is a joke.

 

[Roller]

It simply can't be as smart a virtual assistant as Cortana, Alexa or Google Assistant and that's because Apple does not hold on to a user's personal data. If Apple stays with their philosophy and/or views about privacy, you can expect Siri to never be on par with others.

Maybe. But at least some of the personal data that Siri could use to improve its utility resides on my phone without being permanently transferred to Apple. And many of Siri's failures don't have anything to do with my personal information, so I think it could do better without compromising privacy.

 

[developer13245]

I shut Siri off many years ago.

 

[Defthand]

Apple could have avoided much of the dissapointment it caused if it hadn’t marketed Siri as an AI assistant. They should have been more honest and marketed Siri as a voice remote control. And Siri should not have been given a voice.

 

[alexandr]

Bill tried to compose his resignation letter using siri, but quickly gave up... (yes, i'm sure there was no resignation letter, chill)

 

[tridley68]

Maybe now they can get someone in there that can finally improve Siri.

 

[izac90]

Finally get someone to improve Siri more!!

 

[TPALTony]

Personally I would settle for Siri doing simple things like responding to "Call Dad" or "Resume Music" without needing an internet connection. It's infuriating when it can't do the simplest things without being connected. Surely it's not that hard to do the simple stuff "on device."

 

[eeboarder]

The Siri answers are usually just Google search results, in my experience. It's bad.

 

[jeffe]

Apple should just let us choose our favorite assistant. I'm close to dumping my iPhone just so I can have quick access to Google assistant again. Siri is turning into a deal breaker and i'm guessing it will be years before Siri is able to catch up to Google is doing.
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This is simply a wiser approach. Privacy is great, but Apple is trustworthy enough users should be able to opt into contributing to a better digital assistant.

Apple has the right privacy philosophy and I trust Apple more in not collecting my data but I think I trust Google way more than Apple in securing and keeping my data private. Google has a long history of collecting data and storing it securely. Plus, I know how to easily delete my data off of Google. Not really sure how to do that with Apple.

 

[haganah]

I agree I don't find alexa to be 'smart' - it stumbles all the time.

But compared to Siri it's on a whole other level, mainly due to installable skills, but even more because it can learn and update without you needing to do anything. The weekly 'whats new with alexa' emails are full of new features. I can't remember the last time Siri added a feature.

One thing I have found is Alexa has got way better at predicting what you've said. If you mumble or mess up a word, its at the point where it can almost always figure out what you were trying to say. Siri can't do that at all and just feels very dated and 'dumb'.

Apple have no excuse for Siri, its just so far behind now that its not even funny.

The one thing Amazon has got so right is their attitude towards developers. They come across as very open. Apple come across as arrogant and afraid to open up to the outside world, which is mind bogglingly idiotic when its to freely provide your ai platform with more intelligence.

Installable skills like whale sounds right?

 

[AustinIllini]

Apple has the right privacy philosophy and I trust Apple more in not collecting my data but I think I trust Google way more than Apple in securing and keeping my data private. Google has a long history of collecting data and storing it securely. Plus, I know how to easily delete my data off of Google. Not really sure how to do that with Apple.

That's an interesting point. I'm not sure I think Apple can keep my data as safe as google either. I guess I'm not sure.

 

[ipedro]

Best to just abandon Siri’s old engine and start again fresh. Otherwise, Apple will be putting lipstick on an outdated 8-yr old pig.

That’s what they’re doing. Siri on HomePod is an entirely new Siri. It’s behind on features but is noticeably better at the basics: speech recognition and understanding what you’re asking.

I believe that Apple is testing and developing this new Siri on a low risk platform like the HomePod before putting it on their flagship devices.

 

[zooby]

Oh, that's the best news I've heard all day! Hopefully, a new executive can bring about greater change than we've seen so far.

This should never happen when all you want Siri to do is "unpause the music":

View attachment 819480

Or just say "play music"?

 

[Defthand]

Personally I would settle for Siri doing simple things like responding to "Call Dad" or "Resume Music" without needing an internet connection. It's infuriating when it can't do the simplest things without being connected. Surely it's not that hard to do the simple stuff "on device."

Excellent observation! Especially after Cook decried Google’s cloud-processing of User data to accomplish its AI requests. Cook insisted the same end can be accomplished privately on the User’s device. As you pointed out, why isn’t Apple able to?

 

[ipedro]

I agree I don't find alexa to be 'smart' - it stumbles all the time.

But compared to Siri it's on a whole other level, mainly due to installable skills, but even more because it can learn and update without you needing to do anything. The weekly 'whats new with alexa' emails are full of new features. I can't remember the last time Siri added a feature.

Siri is constantly improving too. It doesn’t require you to do anything. Its updates are server side.

As for installable skills, Alexa has roughly 30,000 skills. The App Store has 2 million apps. Every day, apps are updated to support Siri Shortcuts, which is Siri’s version of Alexa Skills.

Shortcuts has only been out for 4 months and already there are hundreds of apps that support it. You don’t have to be that good at math to realize that Siri will catch up pretty darn quickly. I’ll do the math anyway: if just 1.5% of the apps on the App Store update with Siri Shortcuts support, you’ll have 30,000.

The one thing Amazon has got so right is their attitude towards developers. They come across as very open. Apple come across as arrogant and afraid to open up to the outside world, which is mind bogglingly idiotic when its to freely provide your ai platform with more intelligence.

Huh?? The iOS App Store is the biggest in the world, the very definition of open to the outside world. Almost every developer makes their apps for the iOS App Store first, if not exclusively.

 

[ignatius345]

Siri has gotten a bit better over the years, but it still is very maddening what it gets wrong. The main thing is it has just ZERO understanding of context.

 

[ipedro]

Shortcuts is probably the most complicated thing Apple has ever pushed out and instead of them trying to fix their stupid AI they want us to do it manually like what’s the point

Nobody is asking you to create Shortcuts manually. Siri suggests Shortcuts according to your routine and the apps themselves have ready made shortcuts. You just tap Add Shortcut from within the app and it’s done.

Shortcuts the framework and Shortcuts the app are two separate things. The app is there for those who want to tinker and create complex shortcuts. The average person never has to even download the Shortcuts app, let alone use it. Shortcuts recommended by Siri or added from within an app will run without having the Shortcuts app installed.