Federighi: Siri shouldn’t become your AI friend | News

Chatbots like ChatGPT are designed to create emotional connections with users. They not only answer questions, but also always praise users for their great comments, confirm and only very carefully criticize false claims – and therefore seem to many to be very pleasant people to talk to. Last year, OpenAI had to observe what happens when this “supportive personality” goes too far and hastily introduced an “anti-toady update” (see article). As Craig Federighi explains in an interview, they definitely don’t want to go down such a path with Siri.

Siri is not available as a friend!
Some systems attempted to draw users into conversations, get them to reveal personal information, and then build a connection. This is exactly the approach that Apple does not want to pursue, says Federighi. Instead, Siri should help you complete tasks, find information or learn things about the world. Anyone who addresses Siri as a romantic partner will not get very far. Federighi put it clearly: Siri is “100 percent not up for it.” While some providers see the aim of using AI to combat loneliness, Apple clearly positions the system as a tool and not as a virtual friend.

The line remains: no chatbot
At the same time, Apple remains true to the line that was formulated last year. Apple Intelligence and Siri should not exist as a separate chatbot world next to the system, but should be embedded in iOS, iPadOS, macOS and apps. An “emotional AI companion” would also generate exactly the kind of intimate data and bonding patterns that Apple wants to distance itself from when it comes to data protection issues. The new Siri is therefore explicitly not intended to hold conversations for as long as possible, but rather to be useful as quickly as possible – as mentioned, as a technical system instead of as an AI life partner.