Since Apple launched Siri in 2011 alongside the iPhone 4s, it has received mixed reviews. Despite numerous updates to the iPhone's voice assistant, the overwhelming opinion is that it's mediocre. In my years of owning iPhones, I haven't met anyone who believes Siri is good enough.
Adding to the issue, OpenAI's ChatGPT-4o, which is free for users, appears to be an assistant that outshines Siri in almost every way, except for its deep knowledge of iPhone software and information. For simple tasks, however, that makes ChatGPT-4o much more useful than Apple's offering.
As the best AI chatbots consistently improve, it's no surprise that Siri is becoming irrelevant. The voice assistant is limited, lacks understanding, and can be tedious to use. I can't count how many times I've been annoyed by Siri accidentally popping up, forcing me to turn it off before it misinterprets my speech as a command.
However, with the upcoming iOS 18 release, Apple is reportedly introducing some AI features that don't oversell the future of Siri but could significantly improve the iPhone's voice assistant.
According to the Bloomberg Power On newsletter, Siri will respond and follow commands in more "natural" ways—less like a robot and more like a human. This improvement will be powered by Apple's own Large Language Models (LLMs), similar to other AI chatbots that use LLMs.
Considering Apple's focus on privacy, Siri's ability to interact with your device in unique ways could make it more useful compared to third-party AI chatbots available from the App Store. Additionally, Apple is reportedly working with OpenAI, so we might see further integration of ChatGPT within the iPhone and iPad as an alternative to Siri. Hopefully, this partnership will also enhance Siri's capabilities.
Of course, we'll need to wait for the official announcements of iOS 18 to get more information. However, we hope that Siri will become more useful than ever, which wouldn't take much, in all honesty.