Siri on HomePod Correctly Answered 52.3% of Queries in New AI Test

[MacRumors]

In a new test shared today by Loup Ventures, Apple's HomePod was put through its paces in categories including Siri, sound quality, and ease of use. For Siri, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster reported that while the AI assistant understood 99.4 percent of queries asked of it, it answered only 52.3 percent of them correctly. Loup Ventures tested three separate HomePods and asked 782 queries total.

Compared to previous tests of rival speakers, HomePod is "at the bottom of the totem pole" in the AI assistant performance category. Google Home answered 81 percent correctly, Amazon's Alexa answered 64 percent correctly, and Microsoft's Cortana answered 57 percent correctly.

Munster broke this information down further, stating that Siri is good for "local" and "commerce" queries, like asking about nearby coffee shops or assisting in buying new shoes. In this area, Siri beats Alexa and Cortana but still falls behind Google Assistant on Google Home.

Despite the low percentage of correctly answering the 782 total queries asked of it, Munster said Siri's overall performance rose above expectations "given the limited scope of HomePod's music focus."

Chart via Loup Ventures​

The researchers explained that over time HomePod and Siri should grow to match, or surpass, rival assistants by simply adding query domains like calendar, email, calling, and navigation.

Some domains like navigation, calendar, email, and calling are simply not supported. These questions were met with, "I can't ___ on HomePod." Also, in any case that iPhone-based Siri would bring up Google search results, HomePod would reply, "I can't get the answer to that on HomePod," which forces you to use your phone or give up on the question altogether. Removing navigation, calling, email, and calendar-related queries from our question set yields a 67% correct response, a jump from overall of 52.3% correct.

This means added support for these domains would bring HomePod performance above that of Alexa (64%) and Cortana (57%), though still shy of Google Home (81%). We know Siri has the ability to correctly answer a whole range of queries that HomePod cannot, evidenced by our note here. Apple's limiting of HomePod's domains should change over time, at which point we expect the speaker to be vastly more useful and integrated with your other Apple devices.

As discovered in the research, where HomePod excelled was its "superior" listening skills. The HomePod allows users to speak at a normal volume, even when music from the speaker is particularly loud, and Siri will pick up on the voice and hear the user. "This was HomePod's most stellar feature," according to Munster.

Loup Ventures also favored HomePod's sound quality, saying that "it sounds incredible." Like other reviews and impressions of the device, Munster's enjoyment of the HomePod's audio quality was countered with the speaker's lackluster Siri performance, which he thinks will be changing fairly soon.

Don't be fooled by HomePod's sound quality-focused first step into smart speakers; Apple has a grander vision than delivering a better sounding Echo. While not present in the first version of HomePod (i.e. you can't even make a phone call with HomePod), we believe Apple's goal is to make Siri a ubiquitous, ambient presence that connects and controls all your connected devices and services - and to make a leap forward in the transition to voice-first computing.

Visit Loup Ventures to read more of the information gathered from the HomePod "smart speaker gauntlet," including the publication's prediction for demand and market share of HomePod through the rest of 2018.

Article Link: Siri on HomePod Correctly Answered 52.3% of Queries in New AI Test

 

[Kebabselector]

So long as it can play/stop/skip music that's the end of the smart technology I would want. I don't care that others answer questions better, I wouldn't use it for that.

 

[Mobster1983]

That's pretty damn pathetic...

 

[44267547]

I think Siri is more than adequate for what most need it for the HomePod. Is it better than Google Home? No. Does it need to be better than the competition? Not necessarily. I use Siri all the time and I really don’t have any general complaints, aside from not understanding some of the things I ask it. None of these voice assistants are perfect.

 

[unobtainium]

Siri sucks. I don’t think I’ve used it in over a year.

 

[jasvncnt]

What good is "superior" listeng skills if it can't answer many of the questions?

 

[No. 44]

"Munster broke this information down further, stating that Siri is good for "local" and "commerce" queries, like asking about nearby coffee shops..."

So an Apple product is good at helping one to locate a Starbucks?

Go figure...

 

[SeattleMoose]

Siri is Apple's biggest failure. They have had years to make it at least 80% functional and have failed to do so. Just like the ATV, it seems to be just a "hobby" for Apple.

 

[nfl46]

Oh my at that navigation. Lol.

 

[Polaroid]

What does it score on the iPhone?

 

[Pelea]

Don’t worry! Siri will be fixed by 2040!

 

[chublet]

I occasionally try Siri to see if there has been any improvements but have found it totally useless across all my devices, a HomePod with a screen that could access my local library easily would be a must buy, a HomePod that could never play the song I want because it can’t find it is a waste of money

 

[KidAKidB]

So long as it can play/stop/skip music that's the end of the smart technology I would want. I don't care that others answer questions better, I wouldn't use it for that.

You say that, but I guarantee that if Siri was better you would be using it for more than the basics.

 

[RudySnow]

Me: “Hey Siri, why are you so terrible at answering questions?”

Siri: “I found several articles on the web about crustaceans.”

 

[MrGuder]

If you ask Siri to turn the volume up does she say, "I didn't get that, would you like me to search the web for how to turn the volume up?" No...Ok. Argh!!!

 

[foobarbaz]

What good is "superior" listeng skills if it can't answer many of the questions?

Frankly, I'd be happy if my Echo understood "louder" or "pause" 100% of the time. And if it didn't randomly start reading train schedules or weather reports while I'm watching TV.

Everybody's needs are different, but I just want basic (mostly music) controls to work reliably. I don't need smart audio (as I almost always find visual and hyperlinked information more appealing than linear voice output).

 

[D-a-a-n]

Siri is Apple's biggest failure. They have had years to make it at least 80% functional and have failed to do so. Just like the ATV, it seems to be just a "hobby" for Apple.

So true, I have an ATV 4th gen and indeed it just seems a hobby. Already have it for 2 years and the Siri functionality still doesn't work in Belgium...

 

[palmerc2]

I think Siri is more than adequate for what most need it for the HomePod. Is it better than Google Home? No. Does it need to be better than the competition? Not necessarily. I use Siri all the time and I really don’t have any general complaints, aside from not understanding some of the things I ask it. None of these voice assistants are perfect.

I can only imagine the amount of gloating on these forums if Siri was #1 on the list instead of Google.

 

[buklauu]

What good is "superior" listeng skills if it can't answer many of the questions?

That's the first step. If the device can't even hear you, it's never going to be able to answer you. Apple seems to have gotten the first part of the equation right, but is lagging significantly on the second.

 

[Seoras]

I measure the success of any purchase by the price / years of use.
There's nothing in the Home Pod that can't be improved upon over the next year or so that requires new hardware.
In that respect the Home Pod is a clear success. The software, and AI, are fixable.
Can you say the same about the other smart speakers?

 

[artfossil]

You say that, but I guarantee that if Siri was better you would be using it for more than the basics.

You’d lose that bet. I’ll be using my HomePod to escape the world, not seek it out.

Or, as Simon & Garfunkel sang:

“I get the news I need on the weather report.
I can gather all the news I need on the weather report.”

 

[nibfiledotcom]

I'm honestly surprised that it did that well. It's fairly well known that Siri's third-party capabilities are limited to certain domains, and on HomePod, that's even further restricted to just three: Messaging, Lists, and Notes. And it can't even do those yet... it's a test-only feature in the new iOS Betas.

However, in my experience, if you want to do something that it actually can do, Siri (on iOS, anyway) is better than its competitors. It's far more capable of interpreting my request (regardless of how I ask) and subsequently helping me complete the actual task, filling in any missing information. I hope Apple is willing and able to open that up someday soon, because if Siri had the skills to match the smarts, I think she'd easily top the bunch.

Siri is also unmatched in the category of not mistakenly activating all the damned time— no, I didn't say anything even close to "Alexa," you stupid Echo! Perhaps, though, that's strategic on Amazon and Google's part... the more often it activates, the more data it can gather from you.

 

[The Game 161]

It does whats required for basic tasks

It's certainly no alexa but for me doesn't need to be

 

[dkemmerer]

Unfortunately, the article doesn't give many specifics about the questions it used. If they were all simple yes/no questions, 50-some percent would be abysmal. But if they're open-ended or obscure questions, it's probably not too bad.

 

[DNichter]

That’s what we get for Apple keeping our information private. I feel like it’s a very small price to pay and I am not surprised at all that Google leads the way here. Their sole focus as a company is mining your data for advertising. Ultimately, it doesn’t affect me as I don’t use voice assistants this way. Smart home stuff and music is really it. I’m sure the HomePod works well for these.