Apple to revamp Siri with artificial intelligence to beat competitors such as ChatGPT
The tech company hopes its virtual assistant can hold conversations instead of just answering individual questions.
According to reports, Apple plans to launch an improved version of Siri, its virtual assistant, as part of its strategy to stay ahead in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.
This initiative took shape after Apple's top software executives, Craig Federighi and John Giannandrea, evaluated OpenAI's new chatbot, ChatGPT, and realized that its capabilities made Siri seem almost obsolete.
According to two sources familiar with the company's internal work told The New York Times, Apple executives are concerned that the advancement of artificial intelligence will threaten the company's dominant position in the global smartphone market by displacing the iPhone iOS software and become the main operating system.
Although Apple's virtual assistance was cutting-edge after its launch in 2011, Siri has shown limitations in maintaining a coherent conversation and often misinterprets users' questions. On the other hand, OpenAI's ChatGPT has the ability to generate computer code, answer complex questions, and offer creative ideas.
This is why Apple is focused on improving Siri's capabilities so that it can participate in natural conversations instead of just answering individual questions. Additionally, the company is working on the possibility of processing user requests directly from iPhones instead of sending them to external servers. This would improve privacy and save costs compared to other AI services that rely on external servers.
Apple could reportedly announce the revamp of Siri at its annual developers conference (WWDC) on June 10. This revamp is expected to be part of a broader effort to keep Apple relevant in the market.