It’s proving a very long wait for the new Siri, but perhaps it doesn’t matter so much after all. A new survey shows that most people are using Siri and other voice assistants in exactly the same way they did way back in 2018.
While some new capabilities have been added, and there are some generational differences in usage, the vast majority of it falls into five rather basic categories …
The new Siri is a long time coming
After many years of Siri being accused of being the dumbest intelligent assistant around, Apple demonstrated some extremely impressive new features during WWDC 2024 – further highlighting them in an iPhone 16 ad.
Sadly, however, the company had to delete the ad after accusations of false advertising and subsequently walk back the timing on the promised Siri upgrades. That led to multiple accusations of the new Siri being vaporware, despite the company’s denials.
Apple insists we will get all of the promised features and even more whenever they eventually launch.
So far, usage hasn’t really changed
A YouGov survey reported in Sherwood News suggests that the vast majority of intelligent assistant usage is still for the same five things.
- Checking the weather: 59%
- To play music: 51%
- To check the web for an answer: 47%
- To set timers/alarms: 40%
- To call someone hands free: 39%
Top comment by TJ
It's not surprising people haven't changed their behaviour or interactions after seven years, as Siri hasn't changed. People have adapted to speak 'Siri' so it understands the simple commands that you 'hope' it will complete. As some of the other comments mention this fails on various occasions even for simple tasks.
The new wave of AI (e.g. ChatGPT Advance Voice Mode in particular) is so abstract to the way people have interacted with voice input before, that it is literally a new learning curve for people to readjust.
Will be interesting to see if the 'new Siri' delivers and how we change our interactions/usage of Siri overtime. Let's hope in 2027 we all look back thinking it's an extremely positive change!
In fact, all the way down into the single-digit percentages, pretty much everything people are doing today, they could also do seven years ago.
However, there is some frustration
For the most part, people seemed content with their existing usage. However, 10% said digital assistants aren’t as smart as they expected them to be, suggesting that they had hoped to be able to use them to tackle more demanding tasks.
There was also frustration at voice assistants not understanding what they wanted to achieve, and failing to deliver accurate answers.
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