Apple Says Personalized Siri Features Shown at WWDC Last Year Were 'Real' and 'Working'

[Rogifan]

I don't know -- I'm no Gruber defender of late, but I appreciated him roasting Apple.

They never should have gone as public as they did with ADs and saying things were coming to the degree they did.

They gambled and lost and really shouldn't even be "gambling" in this way anyhow.

I think most of the criticism was/is fair. But alleging something they showed off at WWDC was vaporware? That’s a pretty big claim to make and as far as I know he was the only one who did so. I don’t think Mark Gurman or anyone else in the rumor mill ever claimed what Federighi showed off was fake.

 

[Rogifan]

I don’t know what to think, it’s not that I deem Apple execs incapable of lying but I don’t see what they benefit from lying in an interview when they can just say nothing and obtain the same result
They didn’t even need to address this particular point, the lawsuit they’re facing right now is about not delivering a feature they advertised - to my knowledge it’s not illegal to do fake demos (if it was Microsoft, Google and 90% of SV would have been found guilty innumerable times)

On a related note I don’t believe for a second Apple Execs were scared to face Gruber lmao
The man gives the most safe, softball “interviews” and I’m positive the questions are screened prior to the event

I definitely believe it could be pettiness but people act like they were scared to be questioned about the AI **** and I just don’t understand why you’d genuinely think that

I don’t think Craig or Joz were scared to face Gruber. I think they were p*ssed that he essentially called their WWDC video fake. So he’s in the doghouse for a while. Also his event is live and a lot of the audience are Apple-centric podcasters, bloggers, developers who have been highly critical of the company over the past year or so. My guess is Craig and Joz didn’t really care to be around them either this year.

 

[cnnyy20p]

Of course, they would have had a working demo. If not, they wouldn't have bet on it. It's all come down to that LLM is very prone to errors in its nature and is very heavy on resources.

 

[jz0309]

There is no need for any data/information needed for personal opinions. We can believe what we want without justification. That's freedom of speech and beliefs.

Conversely, do you actually have data/information that makes you convinced Apple is telling the truth, and John Gruber was lying about Apple in his article Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino which MR reported and perhaps that was what tipped people not to believe what Apple said?

So, posting opinions is “freedom of speech” but asking questions about those opinions is not?
And why are you bringing Gruber up? Did I say somewhere anything about that?

 

[Black Belt]

A WHOLE OTHER YEAR??? The delay to fix Siri has already been outrageous. This shows Apple leadership is incompetent. They dick around with irrelevant “features” like emojis and pride watch bands but should instead have EVERYONE pounding on getting this done and released. And fire Tim Cook. It’s just embarrassing at this point. He has no vision or leadership skills to move Apple forward. Watching the WWDC address with them rolling out a crew of Tim Cook cookie cutter clones who talk the same and use the same ridiculous bombastic adjectives make it obvious the company is stuck. They need to break free before they become the next Blackberry.

 

[parseckadet]

I wouldn't be nearly as upset as I am if Apple hadn't flogged the Apple Intelligence features in the advertising campaigns as hard as they did. I understand the notion of things being shown at WWDC not working out as expected, but Apple went way beyond that. The ad with Bella Ramsey was especially egregious and was intentionally crafted to give the impression that the features shown off were either already available or just around the corner. That is the pure definition of a lie, plain and simple.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I wouldn't be nearly as upset as I am if Apple hadn't flogged the Apple Intelligence features in the advertising campaigns as they did. I understand the notion of things being shown at WWDC not working out as expected, but Apple went way beyond that. The ad with Bella Ramsey was especially egregious and was intentionally crafted to give the impression that the features shown off were either already available or just around the corner. That is the pure definition of a lie, plain and simple.

Exactly right.

Apple did all of this to themselves.

Getting petty with Gruber about any of it was another bridge too far as well.

 

[Cameront9]

This feels VERY much like CYA for the lawsuits.

 

[Phineasgage1848]

They gave themselves 9 months to figure it out for a Spring 2025 release and couldn’t close the gap. This strategy clearly worked for them in the past and they ended up on the losing side of the bet they could do it again. At least they are owning up to it, which is something a boatload of people said they wouldn’t do.

I was one of those people. I assumed they just wouldn't address it at all and I am glad they did. Fedherigi did very good in talking about it even though it wasn't his problem, it was Giannandrea's. Very professional of him and I hope he takes over from Tim eventually. It's still insanely embarrassing that Joz allowed them to market a feature that wasn't reliable enough to come out on their flagship device. Still such a huge misfire

​

 

[Phineasgage1848]

I think Gruber needs to publicly apologise a bit here. I think the concept of “vapourware” is that something literally doesn’t exist. Whether it’s an animation of what it should do, or specification, there is no actually built product. That’s kind of what he accused Apple of doing.

For anyone who has ever developed any software commercially you will know that there is often a huge difference between 80% working and 100% finished. It’s the edge cases that end up getting you. Sometimes the problems you find in the last 20% mean you have to start again and wipe the previous 80%. It happens. It happens a lot. I think Apple are saying this is what happened to them and it’s knocked them back.

Gruber’s criticism of Apple nowadays talking about a product that they are not imminently able to ship is valid. There was a credibility to how Jobs used to do things in that way. The only problem is Cook has made Apple a far bigger company that is far more important to the wider investment community and the USA economy as a whole. And that community needs a roadmap otherwise they think a business is dying. They don’t do “Steve Jobs level secrecy”. That type of secrecy is what tanked Apple stock by 40% a while back when some investors got anxious about apples future.

So Apple ended up getting into the game of promising rather than being certain. Committing to road maps that they could not always 100% guarantee.
They are now going to have to dial that back and focus. But I think it’s ludicrous to suggest that Apple didn’t have working prototypes back at the office of anything they showed.
Gruber should have known that.

Go back and read the article. Literally everything he said remains true. They didn't demo it because they couldn't, and they still aren't over a year later!

 

[Mother Nature]

do you actually have data/information that makes you convinced they are lying?

No, they just believe the report of someone, who doesn't have any data/information. Just pure speculation.

 

[javisan]

As the legal cases that have been brought up proceed, I'll be very eager to hear them define in a deposition what exactly 'Real' and 'Working' really means.

 

[jpcyr]

Sue over what exactly ?
Thats like suing your parents who said they'd get you pony for Christmas and it never came.

Apple Intelligence AI False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit — Clarkson

Join the Class Action Lawsuit Against Apple’s Deceptive “Apple Intelligence” Claims. Apple Intelligence AI False Advertising Lawsuit.

clarksonlawfirm.com

 

[Plerf]

I don’t believe you, Hair Force One and Other Guy.

 

[Plerf]

What if it were renamed to "Tim"?

I like “Steve” and you get to decide if it has Jobs’ voice or Woz’s voice.

 

[Plerf]

I think this is a good post.

For me I'd rather wait and get something really good than have something truly bad and possibly destructive now.

I’ll believe the former when it happens. I have no real faith that Apple can ever get it right inside the framework of total secrecy.

Other AI’s are out there being tish in public, but it gives the makers of the AI lots of useful feedback.

If we’re to believe Craig’s version, Apple’s AI totally worked internally but failed in the real world. And so their solution is to return to the Cone of Silence.

 

[dumastudetto]

Sue over what exactly ?
Thats like suing your parents who said they'd get you pony for Christmas and it never came.

I'm sure there are attorneys who would gladly take on that case against my parents.

I think their claim is customers were mislead by the Apple Intelligence marketing and so they sniff another opportunity to drain a few hundred million dollars from Apple. "Victims" who participate in the class action would probably get about $6.66 each if they won.

 

[parseckadet]

So, posting opinions is “freedom of speech” but asking questions about those opinions is not?
And why are you bringing Gruber up? Did I say somewhere anything about that?

You understand that trust is something that is earned with great difficulty and easily lost right? The question shouldn't be "What are your reasons for NOT trusting someone," it should be "What are your reasons FOR trusting someone?" Apple lost the trust of a lot of people. They need to work hard to earn that trust back. Until they do people aren't going to believe their claims, and who are you to ask them to justify themselves?

 

[jz0309]

You understand that trust is something that is earned with great difficulty and easily lost right? The question shouldn't be "What are your reasons for NOT trusting someone," it should be "What are your reasons FOR trusting someone?" Apple lost the trust of a lot of people. They need to work hard to earn that trust back. Until they do people aren't going to believe their claims, and who are you to ask them to justify themselves?

I am just some no name on the internet, just like you.
This is about some reputable folks having an interview with a reputable journalist/newspaper. What is in it for them to lie?
But, whatever, you have your opinion and I have mine, end of story.

 

[parseckadet]

I am just some no name on the internet, just like you.
This is about some reputable folks having an interview with a reputable journalist/newspaper. What is in it for them to lie?
But, whatever, you have your opinion and I have mine, end of story.

What was in it for them to lie a year ago, when those same people gave interviews to reputable journalists/newspapers? But they did lie a year ago. So why should we think they’re not lying now?

 

[Fraserpatty]

I wouldn't be nearly as upset as I am if Apple hadn't flogged the Apple Intelligence features in the advertising campaigns as hard as they did. I understand the notion of things being shown at WWDC not working out as expected, but Apple went way beyond that. The ad with Bella Ramsey was especially egregious and was intentionally crafted to give the impression that the features shown off were either already available or just around the corner. That is the pure definition of a lie, plain and simple.

And I wouldn’t be nearly as upset if we hadn’t been waiting for over 11 years for Siri to be improved and better than she is now. That’s what is the most inexcusable.