In recent weeks it has been read more and more frequently in user forums: the uncomprehending question as to why Apple, Google and Amazon do not simply integrate the capabilities of the generative text AI GPT into their voice assistants. While OpenAI and Microsoft use ChatGPT as an example to show how well a computer can understand people and in most cases even provide useful answers, many users feel that the established systems are standing still. They’re only as smart as their databases, and they’re clumsy when a request doesn’t exactly follow the logic the developers thought up. However, according to a former Apple employee who helped develop Siri, a GPT-style enhancement with existing software is said to be next to impossible.
The New York Times reportsthat Apple is also secretly experimenting with text AIs given the hype surrounding generative AI. Nothing was initially leaked from the internal AI summit for Apple employees, which took place a few weeks ago at Apple Park in Cupertino, suggesting that the iPhone manufacturer would soon react to ChatGPT. But the new report states that progress in this area was also discussed and that the Siri team was also involved. Unlike Google, which immediately responded to ChatGPT with its own system called Bard, Apple, as is well known, has so far remained silent on the developments. An initial reaction is not expected until the WWDC developer conference in June at the earliest – if at all.
Clumsy, cumbersome – a snowball
At least the hope that Siri simply needs to be slightly adjusted is rejected by former Apple engineer John Burkey. The current managing director of Brighten.ai, manufacturer of AI-based language assistant software, worked for almost two years – between 2014 and 2016 – in the Siri Advanced Development Group at Apple. In the report, he paints a sobering picture of Siri’s programming. He speaks of clunky code, a snowball of phrases in various languages and a cumbersome design.
Even simple additions like adding new sets required rebuilding the entire database, which is a fairly time-consuming process. Depending on the scope, it could take four to six weeks, or even up to a year for major changes such as new search tools, to achieve the desired result. He guessed that based on the existing system, there is no way Siri would present itself in a creative way similar to ChatGPT. GPT-4 has recently been introduced, which once again significantly expands the capabilities of ChatGPT.
Introduced in 2011
Siri was introduced by Apple in 2011 and integrated into the iOS operating system. The software was previously available as a separate app. Apple bought this and the know-how of the manufacturing company at the time. According to the New York Times, the virtual assistants Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant have lost the AI race – more than a decade has passed without the software becoming indispensable. As early as 2018, criticism was voiced by the then co-founder of Siri, Norman Winarsky, who accused Apple of having failed in its own right. At least his statement that Apple miscalculated when it wanted to make Siri the assistant for all areas of life has been overtaken by reality. ChatGPT is also pursuing exactly this claim – and according to many, it can do this much better than the established systems.
(mki)
