Apple's Machine Learning Has Cut Siri's Error Rate by a Factor of Two

[lowtolerance]

If Siri is so great, then why is it necessary to constantly tell us that?

Siri is functionally useless. It doesn't interpret speech correctly (at least in my case), frequently misinterprets simple commands, and is just bloody frustrating to use! I've turned it off completely for over a year now, and I haven't missed it one bit.

In my view, Siri is worse than Ping! Yes, I went there.

If you haven't even used Siri in over a year, then you aren't equipped to talk about how well it does or does not work today. As this article makes clear, it is a constantly evolving service.

 

[patent10021]

Some people perceive that we can't do these things with AI because we don't have the data," says Cue. "But we have found ways to get that data we need while still maintaining privacy. That's the bottom line.

 

[hagar]

All this innovation and she's still only useful for setting my alarm.

The rest is just frustration upon frustration where she doesn't understand me, or, if she does, performs the wrong action.

 

[nope7308]

If you haven't even used Siri in over a year, then you aren't equipped to talk about how well it does or does not work today. As this article makes clear, it is a constantly evolving service.

I have turned it on every now and then as an experiment. In fact, I recall demonstrating it's uselessness to my coworker when Ozzy went missing after purportedly boinking his hairdresser. I said "Has Ozzy Osbourne been found yet?". I believe we tried 17 times (something crazy like that), and Siri failed to correctly interpret the phrase each time. We both had a laugh and I turned it off immediately afterwards.

Lots of people don't use products that have performed poorly; that doesn't make their impression of them invalid.

 

[Nevaborn]

Siri needs a lot of work but I have been trying Cortana and despite all the praise I read it is just as useless and frankly it's intervention seems even more lacking.

The whole assistant thing is really important to me being able to anticipate my requests and give me the information I want.

I wouldn't care if Apple took a year off from production of hardware and came back to say we have been improving all our software. iWork and Siri especially.

 

[bommai]

I have problems with Siri with directions. I ask it for directions to a house in a street just a mile away and I can verify that it heard me properly but then finds that address in a different city and gives me the directions. Yikes. If I type in the same information in maps it finds the nearby address properly. Is Siri using a different search engine or does it not have the same location data? Mind boggling.

 

[npmacuser5]

you can already do that in iOS -- you can tap the query as heard and change it via taps and typing

Thanks, forgot about the type correction. However, I am not sure if Apple gets the feedback or if Siri just does what is typed. My point was a tool to correct and teach Siri. Good point.
[doublepost=1472072353][/doublepost]

I agree with your point. I think the problem is deeper: built in feedback forms are flat out useless when it seems no one is listening on the other end where the form goes. That is Apples biggest issue I think....listening to the feedback. I understand that not every wish will be fulfilled....however Apple is more than capable of recognizing patterns of repeat complaint. They just honestly don't seem to care.

Edit: Maps is a prime example of this: after all these years people still have the same types of issues, and when I read them it's often accompanied by the statement "Ive submitted this issue to them multiple times." Well, let's factor out the 10% that lied about doing that, the 10% that thought they did but didn't, and the 10% that can't read a map whether it's right or wrong. That still should translate to Apple that significant problems exist. Of course my numbers are arbitrary, but I think ppl will get the point. Point: Apple practices willful ignorance and does things in the order it would like to, mostly ignoring common sense every day feedback. Im still going to use their products, but I have no illusions that certain things will get fixed quickly.

To your point, maybe Apple needs better hearing and noise cancellation technologies?

 

[0958400]

Siri stills sucks for me... still doesn't work well enough to be useful.

Absolutely agree. And while at it: let's make Siri work, give it another name (or any name at that) and let's get rid of its sassiness. I really do not need an attitude from a computer.

 

[iMi]

I must have Siri's less witty twin sister in all my Apple devices. She's still dense as a bag of bricks.

 

[ipedro]

I giggled through every bit of this.

You see it when the phone identifies a caller who isn't in your contact list (but did email you recently). Or when you swipe on your screen to get a shortlist of the apps that you are most likely to open next. Or when you get a reminder of an appointment that you never got around to putting into your calendar. Or when a map location pops up for the hotel you've reserved, before you type it in. Or when the phone points you to where you parked your car, even though you never asked it to.

Because it’s so true. I never thought of AI being behind all those times when something so conveniently appears ready for me. It’s funny in retrospect and it's all very clear that AI was behind it but at the time it just seemed like serendipity.

Now, you might not see many of these things if you’re not fully integrated into Apple’s ecosystem. It should go without saying that if you’re using other third party services for email or your calendar for example, Siri isn’t going to know about it.

I’m just about as fully integrated into the Apple universe as you can get with an iMac, AppleTV and AirPlay speakers all connected to AirPorts at home, HomeKit devices managing my home itself, a MacBookPro, iPad Air and iPad Pro on the go, an Apple Watch on my wrist and an iPhone 6 Plus in my pocket. I use Mail and Calendar, Notes and Reminders, Photos with 1TB of iCloud storage and most of my friends are blue bubbles on iMessage.

When your life is so seamlessly integrated into the Apple ecosystem, things just start happening that very much subscribe to Steve Jobs' quote: "the results appear to be magic".

One example occurred just as I was typing this. I had written a comment about this topic earlier today on The Verge from my iPhone and I thought I would copy my comment and go more in depth for Macrumors. I'm now on my MacBookPro and as I typed "thev" Siri suggested the exact webpage I was looking for. Not just TheVerge.com but the article...

...Like I said, feels like magic.

 

[MH01]

I gave Siri a go during the Olympics, it could not find the medal tally table..... Sorry it's still hopeless in my point of view. Though I don't use google, it's impressive compared to Siri who acts like a very dumb blonde in comparison.

 

[DanielDD]

My error rate is about 5% and English (US) is not my main language. That said, I would love Siri to recognize more than one language at the same time.

 

[AppleScruff1]

It's only my opinion, but Siri struggles with the most basic tasks. I do appreciate Siri and I am hoping for advancements to keep progressing, making her more efficient. But over all, Siri has improved over the years.

That's really not saying much.
[doublepost=1472083617][/doublepost]

Me: Hey Siri people said you got better!
Siri: Who me?
Me: Yes you.
Siri: I am not sure what you said.

Sad, but so true.
[doublepost=1472083949][/doublepost]

My wife despises Siri. She has a mild accent, Siri cannot understand most of what she says, the gibberish Siri spits out is actually quite comical. I changed her over to a Note 7 recently and she is amazed at how well it works with her accent. I'm not sure how well Siri works overall, but I think they really need to improve it with accents.

Siri needs to improve without accents too.

 

[macfoxpro]

edit

 

[brueck]

People, don't worry. Siri is about to get way better with iOS 10, when Apple starts getting anonymous data!

 

[Digitalclips]

I would love more functionality and less jokes. Yesterday I asked her to show me Foxes music on iTunes and had the common "I don't understand what you mean by blabla...".

If they added Translations like Cortana I'd be a very happy chap, I watch a lot of video recipes and would love to ask Siri stuff like "How do you say shallots in Spanish".

You can, I just asked Siri "how do you say the vegetable shallots in Spanish" and she put up Wolfram with the translation.

 

[Balaamsdonkey]

Siri sucks for me. It can't do simple things like read me text messages I've received. Yesterday I got a text. I saw it on my lock screen but didn't read it. I told Siri, "Read the text." The thing asked me what I wanted to reply with. I repeated, "Read. Me. The. Text." Same response. I finally said, "Siri read me the text message." SAME RESPONSE.

I've NEVER found it useful.

 

[Tiger8]

I love the 'maybe' caller id feature! Things that remind you Apple is unique! I am looking fir my next project getting calls from recruiters, a lot of times the recruiter sends you email first with their contact info in signature, the iPhone is smart enough, that if they ring you, it shows you the number (since they are not in your contact list) and then it says : Maybe John Smith. Genuis!

 

[cajun67]

I like Siri on the iPhone when it works, but at times it totally gets things very wrong that it previously got right.

What really gets me ticked off is how Siri on ATV is worse than useless almost every time I try to make use of it.

I hate Siri because of its limited functionality.

Text-to-Speech, I use all the time, especially in iMessage.

However, TTS accuracy seems to have fallen off a cliff. It's pretty much useless at this point.

 

[Phoenixx]

Apple, for example, uses its neural network to capture the words iPhone users type using the standard QuickType keyboard..........."By using a neural network-trained system that watches while you type, Apple can detect key events and items like flight information, contacts, and appointments -- but information itself stays on your phone."

Hang on, that sounds remarkably like they are saying there is a key logger on the iPhone.

 

[appledefenceforce]

I wonder why kind of accents do these people use because Siri has been understanding me very very well. Complaints all day long.

 

[OllyW]

Moderator Note:

Please stay on-topic.

Posts on controversial political, religious, and social issues are to be limited to the Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum, and made only by those eligible for that forum and off-topic posts will be deleted/edited.

 

[tw1ll]

"Hey Siri, where can we hire some execs who will earn their money and get our stagnating product lines and sales motoring again?"

 

[truthertech]

I like Siri on the iPhone when it works, but at times it totally gets things very wrong that it previously got right.

What really gets me ticked off is how Siri on ATV is worse than useless almost every time I try to make use of it.

Then you should really get it checked. My experience, and most of the people I talk to, have found Siri on the ATV to be the best of any device. It works wonderful, and when I spoke with someone who works in the field, she explained that it is because when you are using ATV Siri has a very specific context to work with, e.g., you are doing searches for shows. In fact, in over a year of use, I can't recall Siri on ATV ever messing up a request.
[doublepost=1472122090][/doublepost]

I agree with your point. I think the problem is deeper: built in feedback forms are flat out useless when it seems no one is listening on the other end where the form goes. That is Apples biggest issue I think....listening to the feedback. I understand that not every wish will be fulfilled....however Apple is more than capable of recognizing patterns of repeat complaint. They just honestly don't seem to care.

Edit: Maps is a prime example of this: after all these years people still have the same types of issues, and when I read them it's often accompanied by the statement "Ive submitted this issue to them multiple times." Well, let's factor out the 10% that lied about doing that, the 10% that thought they did but didn't, and the 10% that can't read a map whether it's right or wrong. That still should translate to Apple that significant problems exist. Of course my numbers are arbitrary, but I think ppl will get the point. Point: Apple practices willful ignorance and does things in the order it would like to, mostly ignoring common sense every day feedback. Im still going to use their products, but I have no illusions that certain things will get fixed quickly.

Don't assume MR and other comment boards are indicative of the experience of the majority of users. For example, Apple Maps. I know that my experience is only anecdotal, but it has been wonderful for the past two years. (It isn't quite as good as Google Maps yet in all aspects, but is better in some and is catching up fast. iOS10 is another big boost for Maps). But the point is that even though users can easily choose either (Google Maps is a simple install and is default on most websites), iPhone users are ever increasing their usage of Apple Maps over Google to the point that it used exponentially more times than Google's and is used over 5 BILLION times a week now.

 

[Muzzakus]

Lots of self back patting over something that doesn't work as well as googles recognition on a $80 potato. Bit silly no?