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Apple Launched Invite-Only 'Siri Speech Study' App to Improve Siri

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Apple recently launched an invite-only iOS app called "Siri Speech Study" to improve and provide feedback on the Siri voice assistant, it has emerged (via TechCrunch).

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The app, which first appeared on the App Store on August 9 without fanfare and was updated on August 18, allows users to voluntarily share their Siri interactions and feedback with Apple so that it can gain data to improve Siri.

The app is reportedly available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and Taiwan, but does not show under the Utilities category where it is published, on the App Store charts, or via search. Users must have a direct link to the app to be able to find it on the App Store.

siri-speech-study.jpg

The sparsely designed app simply provides a link to a license agreement and a field to enter a valid participant ID number to begin.

Speaking to TechCrunch, Apple said that the app is being used to improve Siri across various products by providing a way for participants to share feedback directly with Apple. Apple added that participants have to be invited to the study and there is no way for consumers to volunteer to sign up for the app.

When signed into the Siri Speech Study app, participants must provide explicit feedback on a per request basis, according to Apple. For example, if Siri mishears a request or identifies a user incorrectly, users can explain what they were trying to ask or that they were identified wrongly, which will be fed back to Apple.

No participant data is automatically shared with Apple and users can see a list of the Siri requests that they have made in the app, and then select which of those to forward to Apple with their feedback. Apple told TechCrunch that no user information is collected or used in the app except for the data directly provided by participants.

Article Link: Apple Launched Invite-Only 'Siri Speech Study' App to Improve Siri
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/20/apple-launched-invite-only-siri-speech-study-app/
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I guess Apple realizes they need personal data to compete with Amazon and Google.

This is probably a very good way to get it. Lot of Apple fans who like privacy, but also "trust Apple".
 
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My biggest beef isn't with Siri not recognizing/interpreting my speech - it's that most of the time it doesn't know what to do with what it recognized! it's just not a very helpful assistant beyond setting timers, converting units, providing movie times, nearby business' hours & numbers, and interacting with HomeKit accessories. While it was great 5 years ago, it should be able to do much more by now. I'm told the other voice assistants are much better - but I'm not comparing it to them. I've just used Siri less and less over the past couple years because it's such a hit-and-miss proposition.
 
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I wish that every time Siri misspoke, you could say “hey Siri, that was wrong”. And then trigger her to learn from there. That would get sent directly to Apple (with your consent, that option maybe only appearing to those who opt-in, similar to this program it seems)

That way Apple engineers would know exactly where Siri is falling short.

Okay you know what the more I type this out the more I realize it’s exactly what they just released in this app 😂 nothing to see here, just keep scrolling…
 
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Slowly but surely, Siri is becoming the Internet Explorer of virtual assistants - i.e. its reputation is getting so bad that at some point (if we aren't there already) it will be better to call it a day and start from scratch.
 
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I don't think Siri mishearing stuff is the issue at all. She's generally okay at transcribing what was said. Her issue is that she can't do anything, so I never use her.

"Start a timer" is about the only useful command that Siri can follow.
 
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LeadingHeat said:
I wish that every time Siri misspoke, you could say “hey Siri, that was wrong”. And then trigger her to learn from there. That would get sent directly to Apple (with your consent, that option maybe only appearing to those who opt-in, similar to this program it seems)
Click to expand...
Very much this. It's frustrating that there's no way to tell Siri, in the moment, that "you thought I meant X but I meant Y" and have that information go back to inform Siri's development.

I think there's a fundamental problem that Apple wants her to be perfectly conversational rather than admitting she's a program and offering any sort of meta syntax to control interactions with her. I want to be able to say, for example, "Siri, you're misunderstanding the name I'm saying, let me spell it for you - S - M - I - T - H" (contrived example, of course), and have other ways for interacting with Siri's parser and editing input.

She also lacks a bunch of sanity filters - I once asked for directions to a particular local Italian restaurant, and she proceeded to give me directions to a city in Italy. If she gets a request for directions, she should weight results that are nearby much higher than ones that are hundreds or thousands of miles away, and if she still picks a far away one, she should start off with, "hmm, the only match I found is a three hour drive, are you sure that's what you want?".

(I once asked for directions to a Whole Foods, knowing there was one about six blocks away but not remembering exactly where to turn, and she gave me directions to one 20 miles away, because she thought the name matched better.)

I also find it frustrating when I'm driving and ask for directions to a specific chain store, by name, she takes it as a request for a recommendation for a store - if there's more than one - and I want a particular one, but she won't understand "the Home Depot on 7th avenue", so I just ask for "Home Depot" and cycle through them - she should say "did you want the one on B street?" "no" "Washington avenue?" "no" "7th avenue" "yes". Instead, after the first, she starts delaying things tremendously by throwing in "helpful" details - "how about the one on Washington avenue, it gets 3.4 stars and is open until 9pm today, does that sound good?". Dammit Siri, I don't need you to entice me to choose a particular one, I'm not trying to make up my mind, I just need you to cycle through the available choices quickly, so I know which way to turn to avoid traffic. This is another example where she's trying to seem human, but taking an approach that no human helper would do.

But... instead of letting her acknowledge that she's a voice recognition program, a parser, a database, and some AI logic, and letting you help her by giving corrections or explaining, or spelling things when necessary, they "swing for the fences", and we get a "perfectly conversational" assistant that is in reality deeply flawed and ends up seeming like she has brain damage. They want her to be able to sound like a human, but if a human assistant kept answering with some of the completely broken logic and replies that Siri comes up with, you'd fire her pretty quickly.
 
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twolf2919 said:
My biggest beef isn't with Siri not recognizing/interpreting my speech - it's that most of the time it doesn't know what to do with what it recognized! it's just not a very helpful assistant beyond setting timers, converting units, providing movie times, nearby business' hours & numbers, and interacting with HomeKit accessories. While it was great 5 years ago, it should be able to do much more by now. I'm told the other voice assistants are much better - but I'm not comparing it to them. I've just used Siri less and less over the past couple years because it's such a hit-and-miss proposition.
Click to expand...
Same here, I tried to use it a few years back but it's just some how gotten worse. So many simple things "sorry I can't do that". I tried to get my home pod once to add a couple large numbers and it couldn't do it.
 
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Siri Speech Study it’s saying that not available in lebanon​

 

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I say "hey cutie" to my 11 month old daughter from time to time, and without fail Siri thinks I'm talking to her.

Get over yourself Siri! :p
 
They could make it better by simply not removing features. I go on road trips frequently and I used to be able to get location-based elevations — now ***** Siri just responds with "that's an interesting question!" Totally useless.
 
I don't think anyone can take Apple's AI aspirations seriously until they fix Siri.

While they are at it maybe they can fix their spellchecker, which has to be the dumbest one around.
 
It’s so simple, I filed a bug telling them about it many years ago, I just don’t understand why they still don’t get it.

The very first obvious problem in Siri is that you cannot reshape your question with Sir via continued conversation. Think about it, when you ask things to a real person, how many times do you have to clarify yourself? At least 60%-80% of the time. If you expect an AI assistant to always get your meaning accurate in just one sentence, you DEFINITELY don’t understand the nature of HUMAN language! I guess people there in Siri engineering world, or the decision makers in that realm, are basically not real human beings, or they don’t really care about their work at all!
 
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