Tag Archives: Siri

Was Apple’s rush to join the AI craze a misstep for Siri? |John Norton

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aFter ChatGpt broke the cover in late 2022, and the tech industry embarked on modern rendering Tulip Maniapeople began to wonder why Apple, the biggest tech giant of all, is keeping their distance from the insanity. In the end, Tech Commentariat decided that there were only two possible interpretations of the company’s stand officeness. et alOr it had an unning plan to unleash the technology that would make the world a world-wide.

Finally, Apple was cleaned up at the annual World Wide Developers’ Conference (WWDC) held on June 10th last year. Or appeared. For Apple, “AI” is not what the vulgar routs rave about at Openai, Google, Microsoft, or Meta, and does not mean anything completely refined and refined what is called “Apple Intelligence.” It wasn’t like the veteran Apple-Watcher’s John Gruber put it downa single thing or product, but “marketing terminology for collections of features, apps, and services.” Putting everything under one memorable label makes it easier for users to understand that Apple is launching something truly novel. And, of course, it’s also easy for Apple to say that users who wanted to have all these flashy features should buy an iPhone 15 Pro, as older devices can’t stand the task.

Needless to say, this columnist fell into it and upgraded it. (Well, one sucker is born every minute.) Like the kit, the new phone was impressive. A powerful new processor chip, neural engine, and more have been treated. And the camera turned out to be surprisingly good. However, the features of Apple Intelligence enabled by the upgrade seemed trivial and sometimes exciting. I started messing around with my photo collection, for example, getting in the way, unwanted, and imposing categories on annoying images. And then there was a new pre-installed app called “Image Playground.”Make communication and self-expression even more fun” – This may be true for a 4-year-old with short attention span, but otherwise it was a central casting turkey and should have been strangled at birth.

However, there was one feature that looked interesting and useful. This is a serious enhancement to Siri, an attempt at Apple’s virtual personal assistant. from now on, The company announced: “Siri can deliver intelligence tailored to users and their on-device information. For example, users could say, “Play the podcasts recommended by Jamie.” Siri finds flight details and cross-references with real-time flight tracking to give arrival times. “

However, in a thorough examination, Siri was unable to do these useful things even when run on my expensive new phone. In fact, it mostly looked mediocre as ever. And it came on March 7th Announcement from Apple“We’re also working on more personalized Siri, making us more aware of your personal context and the ability to take action for you within and across your app. It takes longer than we thought we’d offer these features, and we’ll be rolling out it next year.”

For Gruber, who knows more about Apple than anyone I know, this was like a red rag of a bull. The announcement meant, He wrote“What Apple has shown regarding the upcoming ‘personalized Siri’ at WWDC was not a demo. It was a concept video. The concept video is bullshit and a sign of a company that is confused, if not a crisis.” And he has long memories, so he reminded him that Apple last screened the concept video – what is called Knowledge Navigator Video – He was heading for bankruptcy. And when Steve Jobs returns and turns it into the most profitable company in history, it never made anything like that again.

Until – called Gruber – now.

Is he overreacting? Answer: Yes. While Apple is not in danger, this minifiasco, featuring Siri and Apple Intelligence, looks like the first serious misstep in managing Tim Cook’s company. If there’s one thing Jobs’ Apple was famous, it didn’t announce the product before it was ready to ship. It is clear that the company had seriously underestimated the amount of work it took to deliver what it had promised to SIRI last June. If you were particular about Jobs Playbooks, the time to start the enhancement would have been early in June 2025. The company clearly forgot Hofstadter’s Law:Even considering Hofstadter’s law, everything takes longer than expected.

What I’ve read

A million monkeys…
ChatGpt can’t kill anything worth saving Amazing essay By John Warner on AI and writing.

A beloved machine of blessing?
AI: A means of end or a means to our end? Read Stephen Fry’s first lecture to the Digital Futures Institute in King’s College London Obsessive Du Jour.

It’s written on the card
Jillian Hess’s description of Karl Linnae’s materials Practice to take groundbreaking notes It is illuminated.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Apple settles lawsuit by paying $95 million over claims Siri listened to private conversations

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Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant, Siri, violated users’ privacy and listened to them without their consent.

iPhone owners complained that Apple routinely recorded private conversations after users unintentionally activated Siri and made those conversations available to third parties, including advertisers. The preliminary settlement was filed Tuesday night in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.

Voice assistants typically respond when you use a “hotword” such as “Hey, Siri.” The two plaintiffs said references to Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants prompted advertisements for those products. One person said he received an advertisement for a well-known surgical treatment after a personal discussion with his doctor. The plaintiffs argued that Apple did not receive consent before recording their conversations and, in fact, could not have obtained consent because one of the plaintiffs was a minor and did not have an Apple account at the time of the recording.

The complaint alleges that the violations continued from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024. The violation allegedly began with the addition of a “Hey, Siri” function to Siri, which led to unauthorized recordings. Estimated tens of millions of class participants can receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, such as an iPhone or Apple Watch.

Apple denied any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement. The company has consistently emphasized the importance of privacy. In 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook criticized other technology companies for their surveillance, saying: ‘[t]His desire to prioritize profit over privacy is nothing new.” The company further countered in a letter to Congress. 2018 Apple’s iPhone devices do not “listen” to you, other than detecting the audio trigger “Hey Siri.”

But in a 2019 Guardian report cited in the original complaint, an Apple whistleblower revealed that contractors regularly listen to users’ private conversations when performing quality assurance on Siri. He said that he had done so. These conversations included confidential medical information, drug deals, and recordings of couples having sex. Some of these conversations were recorded by mistake, the whistleblower said, because Siri can mistake things like the “zip sound” as a wake word.

At the time, Apple said that only a “small percentage” of Siri requests are evaluated for quality, and those requests are not tied to a user’s Apple ID. “Siri responses are analyzed in a secure facility, and all reviewers are obligated to comply with Apple’s requests.” Strict confidentiality requirements. “The company then paused A quality improvement program has been installed to stop audio recording by default.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a similar request. They could seek $1.1 million in fees and costs, up to $28.5 million in a settlement fund.

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For Apple, whose net income was $93.74 billion in its most recent fiscal year, $95 million is equivalent to about nine hours of profit.

A similar lawsuit on behalf of users of Google’s voice assistant is pending in federal court in San Jose, California, which is in the same district as the Oakland court. The plaintiffs are represented by the same law firm that worked on the Apple case.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Apple unveils “Apple Intelligence” and introduces ChatGPT to Siri at WWDC 2024

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Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a new suite of generative artificial intelligence products and services during the keynote address at the company’s annual developers conference, WWDC. The products include “Apple Intelligence” and a partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI. This marks a significant move towards AI for Apple, as the company aims to enhance user experiences and catch up with rivals in the field.

In his speech, Cook emphasized the importance of AI understanding users on a personal level, rooted in their daily lives, relationships, and communications. Apple Intelligence includes a variety of generative AI tools integrated across the company’s devices, such as Mac laptops, iPad tablets, and iPhones. These tools can extract information from apps and perform actions within them, offering a more personalized experience for users.

The partnership with OpenAI will bring ChatGPT technology to a new version of Apple’s voice assistant, Siri. The updated Siri will act as an AI chatbot, capable of executing tasks based on voice prompts and providing more contextual and personalized responses. Users can expect features such as summarizing notifications, emails, and texts, as well as creating customized emoji reactions.

Apple also announced updates for its Vision Pro headset and the adoption of Rich Communication Services for improved messaging capabilities. The company showcased new features in the Photos app, Apple Maps, Wallet, and text messaging customization. Additionally, Apple aims to expand availability of the Vision Pro headset to more countries in the coming months.

As Apple delves deeper into the realm of AI, investors and analysts have been eager to see how the company will innovate in this space. While Apple has been cautious in introducing AI tools into its flagship products, it has been making strategic moves to strengthen its AI capabilities over the years. The company’s commitment to privacy remains a central focus, with measures in place to protect user data when utilizing AI technologies.

Despite the challenges of balancing AI innovation with user privacy, Apple is determined to set a new standard for responsible AI usage. By integrating AI features into its products while prioritizing user privacy, Apple aims to provide a seamless and secure experience for its customers.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is Leaving Job Seekers Feeling Excluded: “The Interviewer’s Voice Resembled Siri”

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When Ty passed a phone interview with a financial/banking company last month, they thought it would be nothing more than a quick chat with a recruiter. When Ty answers the phone, he assumes the recruiter named Jamie is a human. But things have become robotic.

“The voice sounded like Siri,” said Tai, 29, who lives in the D.C. metropolitan area. “It was creepy.”

Ty realized they weren’t talking to a living, breathing human being. Their interviewer was an AI system and had a tendency to be quite rude. Jamie asked Ty all the right questions – what is your management style? Are you suitable for this role? – But she wouldn’t let Ty answer completely.

“After disconnecting me, the AI ​​responds, “Great!” Sounds good! perfection! ‘Move on to the next question,’ Tai said. “After the third or fourth question, the AI ​​paused for a moment and said the interview was complete and someone from the team would contact me later.” (Ty said his current employer We asked that our last names not be used because we do not know that they are looking for work.)

a investigation Resume Builder, released last summer, found that by 2024, 4 in 10 companies will be using AI to “converse” with candidates during interviews. Of these companies, 15% said hiring decisions are made without any human input.

Laura Michelle Davis I have written From CNET: “Today, it’s not uncommon for applicants to be rejected by robots in human resources departments before they even connect with a real human.” To make the grueling hiring process even more discouraging, many are worried that generative AI, which uses datasets to create text, video, audio, images, and even robot recruiters, will completely take over our jobs.But can AI help us? search Any new gigs in the meantime?

Source: www.theguardian.com