The Fruity Cargo Cult Apple is betting a Siri brain transplant can drag its AI story out of the clown car.
According to the Wall Street Journal when Job’s Mob stages its annual developer conference next week, the Tame Apple Press is expected a “big reveal” of a modern Siri that looks more like ChatGPT.
The old version has been so limited that many people use it to set timers. The new Siri is expected to run on Google’s Gemini technology and offer a more modern search experience. It should remember previous queries and pull data from users’ devices to provide more personal answers.
A new standalone Siri app with a paid tier, similar to rival artificial intelligence apps, is expected too. Now the question is whether Siri and other operating system tweaks can shove Job’s Mob into mass-market generative AI in which it is years behind.
Former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson told the WSJ that all the other companies might as well just surrender now because “Apple is going to win on AI.”
“The phone is the primary device on which people will use AI. And Apple is partnering with the right people to bring a unique AI experience to the phone.”
Yeah, not really sure that is true. Most people are using it on PC while its use on the mobile, even when it is possible, is limited. Most consumers have experienced AI as little more than posh online search.
Anthropic’s Claude points to a different future, where professionals use AI to complete real jobs rather than admire chatbot party tricks.
Apple is banking on smartphones becoming proper assistants for consumers. A phone might book a restaurant because it knows a user’s calendar and dietary restrictions. It could hail a ride because it knows the user’s home address and stores credit card details.
Job’s Mob’s main advantage is that iPhones already know far too much about their owners and AI companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on models will probably have to go through Job’s Mob to reach those users.
So if Uber wants Siri to ping it for ride requests, it will probably have to pay Job’s Mob a large fee.
OpenAI, keen to control its own fate, teamed with former Job’s Mob design savant Jony Ive to build its own AI device. It launched an App Store strategy last autumn.
So far, that apps push has failed to excite, and its device plan is unlikely to make consumers bin their iPhones. However, it also could mean that users don’t want to play with AI on gadgets. Then there is the issue that Apple’s users are more likely to be crystal-wearing bunny lovers who are frantically going online to label things “AI slop” wherever they see it. They are not going to like it that their favourite shiny toy maker is drying out the world’s water supply.
