“I don’t trust her to do anything more complicated:” How can Apple restore users’ confidence in Siri?

This year’s Apple event is just hours away, but how long do we have to wait for a more responsive Siri?

Siri was launched in 2011 and was considered the first system of its kind to include AI-powered features.

Over the years, many other tech companies have caught up with AI trends, while Apple has fallen slightly behind.

Nevertheless, many still had hope when the rumors about Apple Intelligence emerged, and the company introduced its own AI in 2024.

However, the much-anticipated Apple AI didn’t get much praise. Many users were disappointed by inaccurate information, poor rewriting, and prioritizing phishing emails, which prompted many to opt out.

Some users with newer iPhones also pointed out that Apple Intelligence could be why their smartphones lag. That’s why I disabled the AI on my iPhone 16 Pro, after I noticed that it started working more slowly.

Negative opinions about Siri have also been circulating for a while. Many users say that it’s hard to use as it doesn’t understand or cannot execute commands, leading some users who depend on voice assistance to switch to an Android device.

Not all may be lost in the AI department, as Apple is hours away from presenting its latest hardware and software innovations during its annual event, which is this year scheduled for Tuesday, September 9th.

While it’s not certain whether the company will release any AI-related updates now, it has been rumored that Apple is working on a new system that could boost Siri’s performance. However, the release of the World Knowledge Answers system isn’t expected until 2026.

But can the company resurrect its AI voice assistant, and even make it the number-one AI-powered tool?

Apple Intelligence and Siri: separating the two

While Siri and Apple Intelligence are two different systems, users sometimes have a hard time distinguishing them. They often blame Siri for features that are actually related to Apple Intelligence and vice versa.

“Apple Intelligence is the future backbone of Siri. It’s a set of AI capabilities seamlessly integrated into the operating system. In a broader sense, Apple Intelligence provides contextual information to Siri,” explains Vira Tkachenko, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer and co-founder of MacPaw, the computer software company.

The expert gives two main reasons why users might be having a hard time understanding Siri’s capabilities and how Apple’s AI is playing into this role. One of them is infrequent usage, which causes “low-quality results,” notes Tkachenko.

Users might also be confused by “unclear branding,” with Taras Tymoshchuk, the CEO and co-founder of Geniusee, a custom software development company, explaining that “this leads to perplexity because Apple is advertising both brands simultaneously, without a clear delineation of where Siri finishes and Apple Intelligence starts.”

What does it take for Siri to become better?

Bloomberg notes that when it comes to rebuilding Siri, Apple focuses on three main components: a planner capable of interpreting voice and text input, a search system that scans the web and/or device for data, and a summarizer that forms an answer from the data.

While Siri is now run on Apple’s technology, the company could be partially using third-party AI models to power the new Siri.

Apple has been in talks with Google about using its Gemini model for its summarizer and perhaps planner function, while not dismissing the idea of using Anthropic’s Claude or in-house models.

While the company is figuring out ways to boost Siri’s performance, the experts share a few points that could improve Apple’s voice assistant.

Better contextual comprehension

“Now, it often processes requests as separate, rather than part of a conversation,” notes Tymoshchuk.

While that might seem like a simple request, other AI models, such as ChatGPT, can follow a conversation. Several Reddit discussions reveal how users have a hard time asking Siri questions, as it fails to understand or misinterprets them.

“I asked Siri last night to set a reminder for 3:50, so naturally she set it for 10:00,” shared one user.

Some users also shared that they no longer bother using the assistant for “trickier” tasks.

“I use Siri as a cooking timer. I don't trust her to do anything more complicated,” wrote another netizen.

Apple intelligence this, Apple intelligence that. Siri is still just awful.
byu/Guitar_Scary iniphone

Integration with third-party apps

The expert also notes that more users want Siri to “engage with their digital lives extensively, and not just within the Apple ecosystem.”

The company has previously announced that it will be opening its foundational AI models to third-party developers, so perhaps it could also find a way for Siri to work beyond the Apple ecosystem, thereby expanding the use of its voice assistant.

Perhaps this could also please some users who are unhappy when Siri fails to respond correctly to simple queries and often passes the question to ChatGPT.

“[...] she gets confused if you forget to use a question mark at the end. I just typed, "what month is it**?**" and she gave me the full date. I tried again and mistyped, "what month is it?" and [...] she said she could ask ChatGPT to answer that,” shared one user.

Turning Siri into a community-driven platform

Considering that Siri is a service whose success depends on the number of people using it, “Apple needs to create Siri as a more open and community-driven platform,” notes Tkachenko.

The expert says the company should focus on engaging users to understand their requests. This way, they can think of new ways to make Siri a more capable service.

Could Siri become a leading voice assistant again?

Before the great AI race, Siri was once considered a leading voice assistant. Can Siri reclaim this title among other platforms, such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant?

Experts believe that it can become the frontrunner if the company works on developing Siri as “a genuine intelligent assistant, not only a voice controller,” explains the CEO of Geniusee.

Meanwhile, Tkachenko notes that Apple has all the right tools, such as eye-catching UX, powerful hardware, and steady investment into AI “through internal research and development and potential acquisitions.”

“To reclaim leadership, Apple may need to become more open to the community and allow developers to contribute, as well as iterate more frequently,” concluded the expert.