New Version of Siri With Generative AI Again Rumored for WWDC

[florida man]

I do wonder how AI can (in the mid to long term) be reconciled with the ubiquitous call for more sustainability.
It’s not exactly a secret how much energy AI data centers are using. So especially from a company like Apple I would like to see some kind of statement on that. Or are we just going to pretend this is good and absolutely essential use of insane amounts of energy?

Microsoft were recently pushing “ads” on the Xbox Home Screen to encourage users to save energy - while the company itself is massively pushing their AI crap. Like my individual savings of energy could possibly make any difference with that background. But sure, I’ll unplug my Xbox when I’m not using it.

The sustainability thing is lip service. Companies go for profit, period.

Touting sustainability makes their products more appealing to certain market segments, while allowing them to cut costs on packaging and charging adapters.

Any company that talks about sustainability is only doing so as a strategy to increase profits.

 

[Koni17]

Hot take: Apple purposely kept Siri incredibly bad these past few years, such that any minimal upgrades to Siri will be considered a huge generational leap!

 

[macmac30]

Apple, PLEASE, for the love of H100's, when I am the ONLY male in the house (with a very deep voice), don't have Siri ask once (or more) per week, "Who is speaking?" This, more than anything, drives me CRAZY!!! It just reinforces how completely STUPID Siri is! And if I am listening to music on my 2nd Gen paired large HomePods and my iPad happens to be nearby and I say "Siri, volume up" just turn the the music up on the HomePods playing music and DON'T instead increase the volume level on the non-playing idle iPad. This is so stupid. And when you do increase the volume on the HomePod, have Siri say "I've increased the volume" instead of "I'll speak louder" for crying out loud. She just sounds STUPID! And this confuses the user - they wonder, "Did Siri just increase how loudly she will speak from now on or did she raise the volume, or both???" You Apple coders actually use Siri and HomePods at home right??? Using Siri reminds me of the results you get when working with a foreign software development company that has no clue how the underlying product should work (and probably doesn't care)...

 

[nuff_said]

report suggests that some of Apple's new AI features may differ based on subscription service status

So I gather there will be a Siri and Siri+ in the future.
I suspect, in the not so distant future, carrying an iPhone will also be subscription based.

 

[pdoherty]

I do wonder how AI can (in the mid to long term) be reconciled with the ubiquitous call for more sustainability.
It’s not exactly a secret how much energy AI data centers are using. So especially from a company like Apple I would like to see some kind of statement on that. Or are we just going to pretend this is good and absolutely essential use of insane amounts of energy?

Microsoft were recently pushing “ads” on the Xbox Home Screen to encourage users to save energy - while the company itself is massively pushing their AI crap. Like my individual savings of energy could possibly make any difference with that background. But sure, I’ll unplug my Xbox when I’m not using it.

If dummies can absolutely suck up all the energy production to 'mine' useless crypto, then I see no reason a tiny fraction of that can't be used for an actual good purpose. And these Ai tools will become ever-more efficient and capable of repurposing already-done work (IOW it doesn't need to do the same work over and over again).

 

[dmi]

Siri with generative AI seems a horrible idea https://mitsloanedtech.mit.edu/ai/basics/addressing-ai-hallucinations-and-bias/#Inaccurate_Content

 

[Populus]

This is what I’d do if I were Craig, or whoever is now in charge of Apple’s operating systems: Focus all this year only on a whole new generative assistant (the new Siri LLM), and its tight integration into iOS, iPadOS and macOS, as well as the hardware integration with the latest Apple chips, like the A14, A15, A16, A17 Pro, M1, M2 and M3 and all their variants.

Focus only on this key feature that cannot be delayed anymore (2023 was already the year of the generative AI, and 2024 can potentially be bigger in this field), on its software and hardware integration, leaving as a foundation of iOS 18 and macOS 15 a more polished, refined and efficient base system, focused on stability and bug fixes.

 

[wanha]

I just want her to be able to understand Australian... its hard sometimes!

It's hard for all of us... and I have an Australian wife

 

[wanha]

So like CarPlay next gen they will preview it for 2026 or something

There there, kylo. Let me give you a hug 🤗

 

[victorvictoria]

"a user with a track record for posting Apple rumors."

Note that does not say, "ACCURATE" Apple rumors. Caveat Emptor.

 

[kevcube]

Will this be limited to iPhone 16 pro? I’m about to jump on a 15 for free through my carrier but as soon as I do, I’ll find out this is limited to a phone I don’t have when I could have just kept my 14 for another year.

two things:
- there's no such thing as a free iPhone 15.
- your 14 is still a plenty good phone.

 

[jbachandouris]

If Siri would stop responding to my TV that would be great.

 

[sos47]

They will need some time to make sure the responses are politically correct and lawyers are happy with it.

it should be scientifically correct, not politically. the latter could be propaganda.

 

[antiprotest]

I am skeptical of Apple's competence, especially when it comes to Siri and AI.

But I want to be pleasantly surprised.

 

[LSUstang05]

Will this be limited to iPhone 16 pro? I’m about to jump on a 15 for free through my carrier but as soon as I do, I’ll find out this is limited to a phone I don’t have when I could have just kept my 14 for another year.

You may be in denial. You know damn well this will be limited to the iPhone 16 lineup of phones.

Probably. Won’t be the first time Apple restricts a new feature to the newest devices to entice upgrades, even if older hardware can do it.

Annoying, but that’s what it means to be a publicly traded company.

Bingo. It is no longer about doing what is right for the customer; it is about doing what is most beneficial to the shareholders.

 

[florida man]

Bingo. It is no longer about doing what is right for the customer; it is about doing what is most beneficial to the shareholders

In fairness, it becomes about the shareholders from the moment a company goes public. It’s just a slippery slope, and we’re far enough down that companies are struggling to even pretend they still care about what is right for the customer. Apple still does a better job than most at pretending. My echo shows me ads I can’t turn off right out of the box.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

For a while I've been thinking that this would be the fifth major Apple transition, from original Siri to generative AI Siri. This will not be an easy overnight transition.

 

[TracerAnalog]

I’m routing for Apple, as they are likely going to be one of the few AI service providers that at least tries to build in some privacy protection.

 

[sbrhwkp3]

So long overdue. They should have been on the forefront of this.

 

[munpip214]

Announced at WWDC 24, comes out in iOS 18.4 in Apr 25, requires iPhone 16 Pro or M3 Mac/iPad…

 

[topmounter]

TLDR: AI will fix Voice Assistants Now buy more stuff

 

[TracerAnalog]

In fairness, it becomes about the shareholders from the moment a company goes public. It’s just a slippery slope, and we’re far enough down that companies are struggling to even pretend they still care about what is right for the customer. Apple still does a better job than most at pretending. My echo shows me ads I can’t turn off right out of the box.

Hahaha Apple was never a customer oriented company. They sell tightly controlled standardized boxes and gadgets with clever software. Which is OK and impressive at the scale that they do. But customer oriented? Nah… they care about the sell, the upsell and the ecosystem hooks. Their product niche: privacy, creativity, high end finishes.

Let’s see their AI succeed!

 

[CarAnalogy]

I hope they don’t wait for 18 for this. They need to get Siri improvements out the door as soon as they are ready. It’s already been demonstrated many times that just having an LLM in front of Siri to translate natural language into the specific exact commands Siri understands makes it way better already.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Hahaha Apple was never a customer oriented company. They sell tightly controlled standardized boxes and gadgets with clever software. Which is OK and impressive at the scale that they do. But customer oriented? Nah… they care about the sell, the upsell and the ecosystem hooks. Their product niche: privacy, creativity, high end finishes.

Let’s see their AI succeed!

They were when Jobs was around. He famously drove people to do things they didn’t think they could do, all in order to make the end user experience better. Yes he wanted money and control and lots of other things but he knew the best way to be successful and build a loyal base was to make things good for the users. It really never was about the money for him, he just had the kind of drive that brought success from being maniacally excellent.

Apple has brand loyalty like few others and that’s where it came from. I agree they have clearly lost that focus in recent years.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Will this be limited to iPhone 16 pro? I’m about to jump on a 15 for free through my carrier but as soon as I do, I’ll find out this is limited to a phone I don’t have when I could have just kept my 14 for another year.

Just wait for the 16. The 15 will almost certainly get all the Siri features but at this point just wait. Or at the very least get the Spring color refresh.

Apple knows Siri is an absolute joke but I still wouldn’t put it past them to use it to force hardware upgrades. They certainly did it with the Watch because they had almost nothing else new to offer.