Apple has announced a significant revamp of its voice assistant, Siri, in response to user complaints. The company unveiled the changes at its recent Glowtime event, where it also introduced the iPhone 16 and other new products. The redesigned Siri will feature enhanced language understanding capabilities, allowing it to better interpret user queries, even if they are phrased in a less-than-perfect manner.
One notable improvement is Siri's ability to comprehend and adapt to users who may stumble over their words during interactions. This was demonstrated at the event when Siri successfully processed a question despite the user correcting themselves mid-sentence. Additionally, users will now have the option to text Siri instead of relying solely on voice commands, expanding the voice assistant's usability.
Another key enhancement is Siri's new 'on-screen awareness' and 'personal context understanding.' This means that Siri will be able to recognize information displayed on the user's screen, such as a text message about a new album, and act on it accordingly. For instance, users can instruct Siri to play the mentioned album directly from the message.
Furthermore, Siri will now offer personalized assistance tailored to individual users. This includes tasks like retrieving recommendations shared by friends, sending specific photos to contacts, and other personalized requests. These updates aim to make Siri more intuitive and user-centric, addressing previous criticisms of the voice assistant's limited responsiveness and accuracy.
Apple's decision to overhaul Siri was reportedly influenced by testing with OpenAI's ChatGPT technology, which led to the partnership between Apple and OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Apple's operating systems. This collaboration is expected to further enhance Siri's capabilities and overall user experience across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS platforms.
