Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
If they just assigned the local tasks to be performed ... well, locally... that would, I imagine, take quite a large load off the servers.

The only thing Siri should access the Internet for is questions that require an Internet search in order to answer.

I'm guessing they send every command to the servers so that Siri can "learn," but I think all they would have to do is store recorded local commands and then submit them to the servers later on, such as when you're charging your phone.

I doubt this local processing would have much of an impact in battery life.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.