Apple Devotes 'Siri'ous Manpower to New Voice Control Technology

[Michael Essany]

Siri - Apple's new voice control technology in the iPhone 4S - has placed huge manpower demands on the company, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal over the weekend. The in-depth look at the making of Siri points out that the implemented technology is the product of one of the single biggest software development teams ever formed at Apple.

The creators of Siri put "deep thought" into the personality of their software, says Norman Winarsky, a co-founder of the company that was bought by Apple for $200 million in 2010. Siri was born out of an artificial intelligence project at SRI International, a research institute.

At the heart of Siri's complexity are the two distinct systems that make it robust and, quite frankly, so much fun to use. The first listens to what users are saying. The other probes to interpret the meaning behind the request in order to formulate an intelligent and, hopefully, helpful response.

"There were many conversations within the team about whether it should be gender neutral or should have an 'attitude,'" says Winarsky, who added that the pre-Apple consensus was that Siri should showcase "a light attitude" on occasion. Staying true to the founder's vision of what the smart software can and should do, Apple is retaining Siri in its originally intended form: "friendly and humble -- but also with an edge."

Case in point: one user asked Siri the following question - "What's the meaning of life?" Siri replied: "I can't answer that now, but give me some time to write a very long play in which nothing happens."

Source: WSJ

[lillewis51]

wasn't there already an article on this?

[BenderRodriguez]

Siri is why our battery dies so fast if your in an area with no internet or little Internet and you say "set timer 10 min" it will say I'm sorry I can't get data or something like that, or I can't understand u

It checks everything u ask with a server it's not built into the phone

the phone is accessing a server for Siri this is the only thing that makes since so that they just update the server

[Senyaichiya]

We always do have the option to turn "her" off at least.

I should do that one day.

Do our batteries die of even not in use?

I get the error she can't connect even in 3G areas.

[brianiino]

Hahah I told Siri, "I am horny." Siri says, "I found 8 escort services in your area."

[mfletch15]

Hahah I told Siri, "I am horny." Siri says, "I found 8 escort services in your area."

Awesome.

[spooneditr]

Hahah I told Siri, "I am horny." Siri says, "I found 8 escort services in your area."

+ 1 lol

[Fender]

Hahah I told Siri, "I am horny." Siri says, "I found 8 escort services in your area."

That's epic. We create a way to connect to people all around the world in ways mankind never thought possible and now it's used for porn. It makes sense that SIRI could be used or the same.

[MXCO]

Someone ask siri if they can butter her muffin.

[malevo]

hahah i told siri, "i am horny." siri says, "i found 8 escort services in your area."

rofl, ftw!!xd

[Pepsolman]

What I want to know is how much data is used to talk to Siri and how many people will be paying overages due to long conversations with her?

[perealb]

wasn't there already an article on this?

Oh Geez, stop whining!

What I want to know is how much data is used to talk to Siri and how many people will be paying overages due to long conversations with her?

I bet the amount of data exchanged is low but if you're worried about it and want to have long conversations with Siri, do it over wifi.

[Obaid03]

Siri is why our battery dies so fast if your in an area with no internet or little Internet and you say "set timer 10 min" it will say I'm sorry I can't get data or something like that, or I can't understand u

It checks everything u ask with a server it's not built into the phone

the phone is accessing a server for Siri this is the only thing that makes since so that they just update the server

So I can't use it's features without an Internet connection at all? None?

It's lame. Then The excuse for not giving it in iPhone 4 is lame if the servers are doing all the work.

[BenderRodriguez]

So I can't use it's features without an Internet connection at all? None?

It's lame. Then The excuse for not giving it in iPhone 4 is lame if the servers are doing all the work.

Siri's catalog of words is huge it would be nice if you could tell it something then add on to what it says without it saying "i don't understand what you mean" that's retarded

I can only think that the size of Siri is why it's on a server and not on an iPhone that and the fact that it's easier to update then sending out a firmware update

[papito007]

we can only hope that the dev team comes up with porting siri soon cuz it is so unfair that the iPhone 4 users dont have siri on their phone too i so want siri on my verizon iPhone 4 badly and i would be willing to pay for it if need be cuz it would be worth it

[thomaspeter]

I dont give Apple too much value for Siri, Siri is merely a combination of few softwares. One that answers your questions and second is one which simply understand what you are saying that is a voice recognition system. So i dont think they deserve too much for Siri...

[BenderRodriguez]

I dont give Apple too much value for Siri, Siri is merely a combination of few softwares. One that answers your questions and second is one which simply understand what you are saying that is a voice recognition system. So i dont think they deserve too much for Siri...

O okay so your telling us you could build and design something like Siri?

Yeah nice try