Ben Lovejoy <https://9to5mac.com/author/benlovejoy/>
A next generation <https://9to5mac.com/guides/siri/> Siri version is set to
be powered by a generative
<https://9to5mac.com/guides/artificial-intelligence/> AI chatbot, with
analysts expecting it to be launched with
<https://9to5mac.com/guides/ios-18/> iOS 18, and announced at this year's
WWDC.
While Apple has been criticized for the way that Siri has lagged behind, a
new report says that this is because the company is aiming to be far more
ambitious than existing generative AI systems .
AppleGPT
Although the company hasn't made any announcements about its generative AI
work, a report back in the summer said that the company has already created
its own Large Language Model
<https://9to5mac.com/2023/07/19/apple-gpt-chatbot-generative-ai-plans/>
(LLM) system, which has been dubbed AppleGPT
<https://9to5mac.com/guides/apple-gpt/> .
The tool as it stands is only being used internally, but the report then
said that "people familiar with the work believe Apple is aiming to make a
significant AI-related announcement next year."
While that report caused enough excitement to create a spike in AAPL stock,
we cautioned at the time <https://9to5mac.com/2023/07/20/apple-gpt-future/>
that customers shouldn't expect to be using a powerful new Siri service
anytime soon.
Apple's goals are far more ambitious than ChatGPT
While Apple could launch its own LLM tomorrow, the company is aiming to
leapfrog systems like ChatGPT in two ways:
* On-device processing
* Going beyond language-processing, to include AI audio and video
On-device processing
AI systems like ChatGPT do all their processing on remote servers, but
research papers written by Apple suggest that the company has a far more
ambitious objective: using on-device processing
<https://9to5mac.com/2023/12/21/apple-gpt-on-iphone/> .
This would have the advantage of speed and privacy, but enabling such
services to run in the limited memory of mobile devices poses a huge
challenge - and that is believed to be a key reason for the time the company
is taking before launch.
We have already seen the company take one small step toward this goal, with
offline Siri launching in the latest Apple Watch models
<https://9to5mac.com/2023/09/14/on-device-siri-apple-watch/> back in
September.
AI audio and video, as well as language
ChatGPT is known as an LLM, because it's all about language processing. But
Apple's ambitions go beyond this, seeking to incorporate AI processing of
both video and audio.
We've again seen some early signs of this, with visual and audio AI
processing seen in Door Detection and Live Captions
<https://9to5mac.com/2022/05/17/new-accessibility-features-coming-ios-16/> .
Next generation Siri expected to launch in iOS 18
The Financial Times
<https://www.ft.com/content/52839eb2-6641-42a6-acd7-5d41e809c97a> reports
on the expected launch of a far more powerful version of Siri.
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, usually held in June, is widely
expected to be the event where the company reveals its latest operating
system, iOS 18. Morgan Stanley analysts expect the mobile software will be
geared towards enabling generative AI and could include its voice assistant
Siri being powered by an LLM [.]
"As far as the chips in their devices, they are definitely being more and
more geared towards AI going forward from a design and architecture
standpoint," said Dylan Patel, an analyst at semiconductor consulting firm
SemiAnalysis.
This echoes a report from an Apple leaker earlier this month
<https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/04/siri-generative-ai-2024/> , and Morgan
Stanley points to Apple job listings as further evidence.
Almost half of Apple's AI job postings now include the term "Deep Learning",
which relates to the algorithms powering generative AI - models that can
spew out humanlike text, audio and code in seconds.
9to5Mac's Take
While there's still a lot of speculation involved, the idea of a major Siri
relaunch this year does seem increasingly plausible.
LLM models like ChatGPT have completely transformed expectations of what we
now expect from AI systems. While Apple has been able to point to privacy as
its reason for keeping Siri's capabilities more limited than rivals which
process lots of personal data, we have now reached a point where Siri looks
unacceptably dumb. That has to change, and it's hard to see how Apple could
wait any longer than this year.
Using generative AI to power Siri will dramatically boost the capabilities
of Apple's intelligent assistant, while on-device processing will enable the
company to continue to tout its privacy credentials. Incorporating video and
audio processing gives the company a real shot at persuading everyone that
it was worth the wait.
9to5Mac.
