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Will Apple Charge for Its Siri Chatbot?
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Not surprised by all the negativity here. I hate subscriptions too, especially when it comes to creative software, because that basically holds you to ransom—when you stop subscribing, you lose access to your files.
But there are instances where a subscription actually makes sense, and this is one of them—where using the service is costing the service provider. And honestly, it’s not just about the money—it’s about the planet. I can’t imagine that 100% of the power is being generated sustainably, so the thought of every iPhone user on earth drawing all that power with no personal financial consequence, just to mess around and generate fake images and videos—I don’t support that.
But there are instances where a subscription actually makes sense, and this is one of them—where using the service is costing the service provider. And honestly, it’s not just about the money—it’s about the planet. I can’t imagine that 100% of the power is being generated sustainably, so the thought of every iPhone user on earth drawing all that power with no personal financial consequence, just to mess around and generate fake images and videos—I don’t support that.
I don’t think anyone should pay for any sort of AI.
They should be paying us for harvesting and stealing all our data and siphoning all our electricity.
I agree.
That's an argument against this tech, completely, not a good argument to support what they are doing to the planet ... by paying them!
Stopped reading at "will rival". As much as I enjoy my Apple hardware, Siri is just plain bad.
I do not think they will. As the have not watered as much money as the others have on AI.
Maybe they might be able to get away with putting it in the basic tier iCloud subscription like they do private relay, but no more - Apple have already really messed up their AI rollout and the features promised for the iPhone 16 series and iOS 18 etc. still aren't here.
Apple has an immense cash pile with huge free cash flow. Apple is clearly able to absorb billions in AI costs for years to come if it wishes to do so.
Honestly good, it’ll be easier to just shut off like lots of other things. I’m happy with basic Siri just setting timers, giving directions, and asking basic questions. I’ll chat with my friends, coworkers, neighbors, and wife when I need to chat. I know I don’t speak for everyone but why would I pay to chat with a bot? Listen to yourselves.
I do see your point. I just don't see this going away. I compare today’s AI with other modern revolutionary tech, like the combustion engine and the motor car. Look at all the damage that engines and cars have done to the planet! It's mind blowing if you take a good honest look at it. But let me ask you… do you drive a car? So do I. So in a way, we are both hypocrites—caring for the planet but contributing to its slow destruction.
Sigh. The truth is, cars (and trains, trucks, jet planes, etc) are so ingrained in our way of life now, that they aren't going away. AI will be the same. The question isn’t whether we should get rid of it completely—that's not going to happen. The real question is, how are we going to manage it in a way that protects the planet—and protects people? Like most things, it can be used for good and evil—and a whole lot of useful stuff and pointless nonsense somewhere in between.
I see no evidence for this yet, at least not at the scale and penetration of transportation.
I see a whole lot of hype as companies try to jam something everywhere, whether it makes any sense or not.
I'm certainly not going to help any of them by "paying them for AI" (or whatever they are selling that is labeled as AI).
This industry? (see images)
I'm not giving these various cons any of my money.
They just need to adapt Siri with Apple Intelligence/ChatGPT to HomePods. Also if you buy the device, you get to use the software for free because you already paid for it. They can't sell a product that would have no functionality if you don't pay for a subscription.
Don't forget the one that complains about the diodes all down its left side.
“Marvin trudged on down the corridor, still moaning. "...and then of course I've got this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left hand side..."
"No?" said Arthur grimly as he walked along beside him. "Really?"
"Oh yes," said Marvin, "I mean I've asked for them to be replaced but no one ever listens."
Was Marvin sending repair requests to the same system that handles Apple's bug reporting? 🤔
That’s where we disagree. AI is not overhyped in my opinion. In fact, I think most people probably underestimate what it’s going to do to our lives.
Again, I'm not justifying all the ways it’s being used—and will be used in the future. We can compare it to the Internet if you prefer… Look at how that has changed our lives—and not always for the better. Look at the damage social media has done to kids—and adults for that matter. We can compare it to our smart phones—how many of us are now addicted to our devices? But I don't think you would argue that the Internet and smart phones are also very useful—if we can learn how to control them, and not be controlled by them. This too will be the challenge with AI.
I find ai more addictive than what social media was in the early days.
BUT i don’t want itnintergrated into all my data and phone etc.
I prefer to just use it as a standalone app.
BUT i don’t want itnintergrated into all my data and phone etc.
I prefer to just use it as a standalone app.
Seems very likely and then included with one of the Apple One (or whatever the name is now) tiers.
Apple's on record as stating that AI is a core function of the device, and charging for it makes no more sense than charging for multitouch screens. And, as a hardware manufacturer, their interest lies in improving hardware to the point where online AI services are no longer necessary because it all runs on-device.
The trend is moving away from giant frontier models towards foundation models that are finetuned for different uses. Currently, there are several on-device examples, ranging from the `com.apple.fm.language.instruct_3b` model used for most purposes, as well special purpose models like the `com.apple.gm.safety_deny_output` and `com.apple.gm.safety_embedding_deny` models used to improve safety by checking user input and model responses.
Additionally, simply relying on model knowledge (the driver of huge pre-trained models) is known to be a path to hallucination, leading to more of a focus on using tools to obtain current knowledge, or to do things like calculations, which LLMs can't do.
Based on the state of the art in the open-source LLM world, it's quite likely that an optional "chatbot Siri" app -- one that appears as an App to interact with in the foreground, as opposed to the actual Siri assistant, could easily be implemented using on-device models and the PCC - along with the tools provided by the apps on the device and the Internet - that would more than be sufficient for the majority of users. And it's definitely conceivable that for those doing a task that requires huge context windows or immense amounts of computer, well, Gemini can replace ChatGPT as the optional extension.
The more subscriptions pushed on me, the less I want to buy or upgrade future hardware or software. I already made my family clean up their iCloud in order to reduce our Apple One plan. They’re getting back to local backups and more mindful of what storage they have in their iPhones.