Two years ago Apple demonstrated the new Siri. But that was just it - a demo. They didn’t show anything live. They didn’t let the media try it for themselves. It was a stitched together demoware concept.
Fast forward to now and Apple have put a beta of Siri AI in developers hands. It works. According to accounts it works really well delivering on the promise Apple made in 2024 and more.
The fact that it is on device and has full access to your own data - no training needed - makes it instantly more useful than any competing AI tools. There will be AI sceptics and people fearful of privacy. This isn’t for them. Apple aren’t jamming this down anyone’s throat. You can simply ignore it. I am sure bit by bit it will win many sceptics over.
Here’s some good demonstrations of it in use.
Stephen Robles, “After three days using Siri AI, it is surprisingly good. From personal context and on-screen awareness, to the new Siri app on Mac, here’s what Siri AI can do, and how it actually works behind the scenes.” - The Siri Demo Apple Didn’t Show
Practical personal assistant
Apple wants Siri to be a practical personal assistant, not a personality-driven companion, and it is actively differentiating itself from chatbot products built to maximise engagement.
Apple’s Craig Federighi said,
“Many existing chatbots are focused on engagement and sycophancy; they want to pull you in and establish an emotional connection. We view it quite the opposite. Siri is designed to help you get things done and learn about the world. If you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri is 100% not into that.” - Mostly Human podcast
Stephen Robles and others have commented that Siri AI responds succinctly in a helpful manner. Apple’s motivation is to help you with the task at hand. Other AI providers want to engage you more tightly into their world so that you become codependent on their Coworker (I think it’s already happened to me).
“A lot of companies do things because it’s technically possible. But in the end, nobody cares. People don’t want technology. They want to do things.” – Steve Jobs at the All-Things-Digital conference (2006)
This mirrors the language from Apple’s Human Interface Design Guidelines 1987
“Not very long ago, most users of personal computers were also programmers. In fact, many of them were computer builders as well, because personal computers were available only as kits. Today, most personal computers are seen as tools that magnify a person’s ability to perform all kinds of tasks that were formerly done without computers. The Apple Desktop Interface provides a consistent and familiar computer environment in which people can perform their many tasks. People aren’t trying to use computers - they’re trying to get their jobs done.”
I think Apple are on the right track with Siri AI. Once the novelty of AI passes, people will settle down to a sense of “what’s it good for? What can it do for me?”
Over intrusive agents - hey, remember Clippy? - will ultimately put people off. Though it must be said there will be some people who do seek the “companionship” of AI agents.
The challenge now is for Anthropic (Claude) and OpenAI (GPT) to compete more strongly with Apple (who will dominate their devices) and Google which wants to own everything else. Somewhere in there Microsoft will want to stay relevant. Probably will but at an enterprise level.