Very reasonable take by Jason Snell about AI assistants. Siri needs to be completely gutted and rebuilt with generative AI. This will take, what, 2-3 years? The question is who can build a compelling device (“pin” or otherwise) in the meantime, before Apple gets there.
@manton it will take more than one device, from a company that has earned some modicum of trust with people. That will be a huge uphill battle for anyone. All Apple has to do is be near the game. Despite Siri’s issues, Apple still does well over the competition. I don’t want just a pin I talk to and listen to. No privacy.
@steveriggins You'll still have your phone when privacy is required. A pin (or whatever) will be more like an Amazon Echo, existing alongside the smartphone.
@manton I suppose, as long as it works within my existing ecosystem and I trust what they and the AI do with my data. For example, does it need access to all of my contacts to call someone? Likely so. Do I trust it with my friend’s info?
@manton it won’t be able to message over Messages, which is a separate conversation, so how would I deal with that? Calendar events too.
@steveriggins A non-Apple product won't be tightly integrated into Apple's ecosystem. If it's compelling enough, that's okay. Again, Amazon sells a kajillion Echos that have similar limitations, and they aren't as powerful as this hypothetical device.
@manton Maybe I’m picking nits here but how would generative AI be helpful for Siri? If you are thinking a ChatGPT-style interaction in which Siri would make stuff up in its answers, please count me out. LLMs do not have the ability to act as reliable assistants. The technology is not there.
@fgtech The tech will get there. Siri's foundation is incapable of answering the kinds of questions people will want to ask. My gripe with LLVs is sounding authoritative when they hallucinate... I bet that's fixable, though. In other words, "I'm not sure, but I think the answer is..." is better than "I have no idea what question you're asking."
@manton I am totally with you that Siri can’t do what people want. And you are not alone in thinking that LLMs can be “fixed” to solve the falsification problems. They cannot. The problem is baked into the methods. Lots of people are going to lose a lot of money learning that hard truth.