Siri Co-Founder Suggests Apple is 'Looking for a Level of Perfection They Can't Get' With Assistant

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: March 9, 2018 at 12:03:45 PM EST
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Siri Co-Founder Suggests Apple is 'Looking for a Level of Perfection They Can't Get' With 
> Assistant
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> Siri Co-Founder Suggests Apple is 'Looking for a Level of Perfection They Can't Get' With Assistant
> By Mitchel Broussard
> Mar 9 2018
> <https://www.macrumors.com/2018/03/09/siri-co-founder-disappointed/>
>
> Since Siri's introduction in the iPhone 4s in 2011, responses to Apple's AI assistant have often weighed towards the 
> unfavorable side, most recently in several HomePod reviews that specified Siri as one of the biggest downsides of 
> owning the speaker. This week, Siri creator, co-founder, and former board member Norman Winarsky added in his own 
> commentary about the assistant's current state, saying that he didn't think this is where Siri would be at this point 
> (via Quartz). 
>
> In 2008 Siri began as spin-off of SRI International, where Winarsky was the President, and eventually launched as an 
> app for iOS in February 2010. Two months later Apple acquired Siri, and just over a year after that introduced it 
> within the iPhone 4s, shutting down the standalone app shortly thereafter. Seven years later, Winarsky said that 
> Siri's capabilities have fallen short of his earlier predictions for where he thought the assistant, and Apple's 
> development, would end up. 
>
> Specifically, Winarsky's comments focus on what Siri's intention was "pre-Apple" versus where the assistant is today. 
> According to the co-founder, Siri was originally meant to be incredibly intelligent in just a few key areas -- travel 
> and entertainment -- and then "gradually extend to related areas" once it mastered each. Apple's acquisition pivoted 
> Siri to an all-encompassing life assistant, and Winarsky said that this decision has likely led Apple to search "for 
> a level of perfection they can't get." 
> But part of it is also likely because Apple chose to take Siri in a very different direction than the one its 
> founders envisioned. Pre-Apple, Winarsky said, Siri was intended to launch specifically as a travel and entertainment 
> concierge. Were you to arrive at an airport to discover a cancelled flight, for example, Siri would already be 
> searching for an alternate route home by the time you pulled your phone from your pocket—and if none was available, 
> would have a hotel room ready to book. 
>
> It would have a smaller remit, but it would learn it flawlessly, and then gradually extend to related areas. Apple 
> launched Siri as an assistant that can help you in all areas of your life, a bigger challenge that will inevitably 
> take longer to perfect, Winarsky said. [...] “These are hard problems and when you’re a company dealing with up to a 
> billion people, the problems get harder yet,” Winarsky said. “They’re probably looking for a level of perfection they 
> can’t get.”
>
> Last September, Apple VP of marketing Greg Joswiak commented on a few aspects of Siri's development, stating that 
> Apple's aim from the beginning has been to make Siri a "get-s**t-done" machine. Joswiak did a series of interviews 
> around the same time last September, after Siri leadership moved to Craig Federighi and before the assistant's six 
> year birthday. In one, he discussed the claim that Siri development has been hindered by Apple's commitment to 
> privacy, describing these reports as "a false narrative.” 
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp



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