Artificial Intelligence Is Coming to the iPhone, And It’s Going to Change Everything
Let me start off by saying this: Your phone is not suddenly going to gain sentience and become Skynet. However, your phone is about to become a whole lot smarter, thanks to Apple and its new artificial intelligence Assistant.
The hype surrounding Tuesday’s Apple iPhone event is at an all-time high. But most of the hype is focused on the hardware that Apple will announce. What will the iPhone 5 look like? Will there be an iPhone 4S? Will it have 4G capabilities or a bigger screen?
The real star of Tuesday’s show will not be the hardware, though. This event will focus on software, specifically one piece of software that Apple: the iPhone Assistant.
Assistant is the successor to Siri, the iPhone app that helped users with their daily tasks with natural language voice commands. Ask Siri to find a restaurant for you, and it could not only complete your requests, but it could also help you book a reservation. It could grab movie ratings, find you a taxi, perform Google searches and much more. Most of all, it learned from your actions and refined its recommendations accordingly.
The technology that powered Siri was born from SRI’s CALO project, the largest artificial intelligence project in U.S. history. It’s complex technology that linked machine learning to natural language. In other words, it’s technology that made artificial intelligence accessible and useful to the regular person.
Two months after its launch, Apple acquired Siri for more than $200 million.
What Assistant Will Do
On Tuesday, Siri will be reborn as Assistant. And while we have not had a chance to play with Assistant ourselves, we’ve heard amazing things from the people who have used it.
Say you’re in a new city and you’re really craving Chinese. In the past, you might have pulled up the Yelp app, performed a search on Yelp and combed through results. With Assistant, you can say to your iPhone, “Please find me a Chinese restaurant within a mile of my location.”
Instead of searching for the taxi company’s number, Assistant will find it for you. Instead of searching through your apps, Assistant will open up your app and tell the app what you want it to do (we eventually expect APIs that will allow users to directly access their apps via Assistant).
And yes, Assistant will be able to transcribe your texts and perform web searches, much like Google’s Android OS. Assistant will utilize Nuance’s advance voice-recognition technology to accomplish these tasks.
The key though is that Assistant will learn. It will figure out what results you don’t like, what restaurants you frequent, and what people you want to talk to the most. It will adapt to your needs and become more than just a module for voice commands.
What Artificial Intelligence Does to the iPhone
In a great interview on Monday, Siri co-founder Norman Winarsky wasn’t shy to share his thoughts on how Assistant will not only change personal computing but the entire world.
“Make no mistake: Apple’s ‘mainstreaming’ Artificial Intelligence in the form of a Virtual Personal Assistant is a groundbreaking event,” Winarsky told 9to5mac. “I’d go so far as to say it is a world-changing event.”
But why is Assistant a “world-changing” event? Winarsky explains further:
“This is real AI with real market use. If the rumors are true, Apple will enable millions upon millions of people to interact with machines with natural language,” he said. “The PAL (personal assistant software) will get things done, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. We’re talking another technology revolution. A new computing paradigm shift.”
Apple plans to change the very way we interact with our phones yet again. Apple already sparked one revolution with touchscreens and another with the App Store. After Tuesday though, it will have introduced a whole new method of interacting with computers: through an artificial intelligence. That is something that will change our fundamental relationship with the devices that sit on our desks and travel with us in our pockets.
Starting Tuesday, we’ll be talking about a new computing revolution.
Lead image courtesy of DreamWorks
I dunno. There are excellent speech tools already in OSX and Windows. Android has a few great voice capabilities. This looks better. “Schedule an appointment with Ben at 5 o’clock tomorrow” and have it work (and it will have to work perfectly) will be impressive, to be sure.
But nobody uses the wealth of speech tools we already have. People don’t like talking to their devices, especially in public–doubly so if the information is meant to be private. If this has longterm success once the novelty wears off, it’ll be because of only one of two things: 1. it’s actually nearly flawless in execution and highly useful. 2. more people than I can imagine are keen on voice control and to date just didn’t know they had it available in their OS already.
It’s not going to ‘change everything’. People who thought that motion control was going to be the only thing that matters in video gaming are still using D-pads or playing FPS and RPGs with keyboard and mouse. If done right, it WILL be a welcome addition to the ways we interact with our phones, but it won’t be the revolution Apple wants us to believe it will be.
I agree that if this Voice control is like Facetime, a half-baked functionnality that has been available to other platform for ages and that nobody uses today, it’s going to be the lame update we expect but don’t have the urge to buy anymore.
However, if this is a perfect natural language tool, that can recognize what you say (and I really doubt they’ll manage to do so in natural french or german language), it might replace Text for good because, typing, especially on a touch screen is long and laborious, whereas saying your Text is way faster like you would leave a voice message, might change the way we do it.
The input is the problem for me. I hope it also has a text option which then uses the same AI to serve back results etc. Speaking commands into my phone, although sounds great from a tech/sci fi perspective, is something I never utiilise.
Agreed completely. I really hope this isn’t Apple’s “big” selling point for the iPhone 5, or iOS5.
Siri has already been available independently for a long time. It was cute when I first saw it and tried it, voice recognition was far better than the 3GS’s built-in recognition. I messed around with it, looked up a few restaurants I already knew where there to test the database lookup. And then I never used it again.
Similarly for Google’s iPhone application, which has had voice recognition for web searches for ages: I tested it out, decided the voice recognition wasn’t bad… and then I never used it again.
There’s also an innate flaw in the logic of using voice recognition to type text messages: unless the program knows how best to abbreviate words to fit that ubiquitous 160-character limit, people are going to text manually. Plus I guarantee people don’t want the content of the majority of their text messages broadcast to the world as they dictate to their phone (particularly teens, the demographic where texting is most popular). If they were happy doing that, actually phoning people might be more popular than it is…
This whole voice control concept is cute, it’s very sci-fi, but I’m not convinced it’s the way people *want* to interact with technology … at least not for interpersonal communications. Good voice recognition software has been available for a long time for desktop computers, yet nobody uses them because they prefer silent interaction. Merging voice control with a cute multifunction app isn’t going to change that.
Put voice recognition on my kettle so I can shout at it from the living room, and don’t have to walk all the way to the kitchen just to flip a switch and leave again for 5 minutes while it boils. Put it on my thermostat so I don’t have to fight with its arcane setup system. Put it on my alarm clock so I can tell it, “Ok ok, I get the &^$!ing message” in the morning, rather than having to fumble for the off switch. (And make sure can still understand a voice that’s buried under a pillow.) But don’t put it on a device I use all the time in public, where I need to ask questions that would draw smirks “Where’s the nearest public restroom,” or “Find me the nearest McDonald’s. I need a Big Mac, stat.”
I don’t think that you are thinking this through. It is all about reach. Currently no one really uses voice recognition programs because the are not useful or the common user doesn’t regard them as necessary. With a proposed 40-ish % share of the market with this iphone5 release, the now reach and adaptability this can be huge. Like you said when this crosses over to household objects, it will be adopted faster. This is where it all starts…..
You’re right, every new trend has to begin somewhere — after all, Apple really popularized touchscreens with the original iPhone, to the point that they finally became mainstream rather than sci-fi.
But I go back to my argument that Siri has already been around for a long time, and it simply hasn’t taken off. I’m sure it has users but it’s not regarded as any kind of killer app, so I think Apple would have a hard time promoting it as such… unless they’ve added major functionality to it, far above and beyond simply calling a cab company, finding the nearest burger joint, etc.
NealDlin mentions in a post below using the phone with Assistant as a portal for remotely controlling other wireless-enabled appliances: a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. I think that’s definitely the way ahead: a single, portable processing unit (the phone) for handling the voice recognition and command transmission, allowing the appliances themselves to only have to receive handle basic commands (“on”,”off”, “play”, “stop”, “boil” … rather than actually have microphone and full voice recognition system built into my kettle). But is Apple really the company that’s going to pursue that? Would they be open up an API for developers to hook into the voice recognition system and truly open its potential? I don’t know… Apple isn’t exactly known for its willingness to share or play nicely with others.
Long story short: if Siri just remains Siri, if Apple’s voice recognition remains totally proprietary, heavily guarded, and is able to control only Apple apps or devices… it’s going to fall flat on its face. If they open it up to possibilities way beyond the novelty of dictating text messages or controlling your iPod by voice, then it certainly could have potential. But I’m not holding my breath.
I disagree – you can say something to your phone 6x times faster than jabbing around on the touchscreen. I can’t even begin to count then number of times I wanted something simple accomplished, but it was buried so deep in unlock screens, apps, settings, and dials that I didn’t want to be stuck in my phone doing it. I’d rather be looking up, at the world and people around me, then punching around on the screen for a minute and half.
I, for one, have been wanting this for a long time.
It’s funny to here the ways in which this is being considered. Agreed talking to your device instead of texting be adopted by teens. But why would it be adopted by anyone? It’s like reverse evolution. We invented a phone. We talked to each other and then over time we opted to text (still not sure why as there is nothing more efficient than a phone conversation). So speaking texts just seems absurd. If you want the advantage of having an ongoing conversation at your own pace and you are willing to “speak” (heaven forbid) you could just send voice notes? Why on earth would we speak, have it convert to text, send it to someone, have them read it and then speak back, convert it to text, etc. Wow. That tires me out just to think of it. HOWEVER, there are many useful applications for this such as when you are DRIVING and you want to find something, do something, etc. Also, @JamesH – I like the idea of talking to my appliances but why can’t your device be your portal over wifi or 3G or 4G to wireless enabled appliances? Control your home from your phone.
I agree is totally irrational, but we’re humans and that’s how we are. I guess that’s one of the reasons technologies like this, although useful, aren’t adopted by the masses. Maybe desgin engineers give us too much credit. Having said that, lots of people carrying a smart phone spend long hours in cubicles and meetings or elevators and use the phone to message each other in secret/silence, lots of people still prefer the keyboard just cause they can “feel” the keys and type w/o having to look at the phone (after all, isn’t tact another sense? why dismiss it?) as for teens,,,I think the opposite is true, I can imagine old people shouting at their phones but not teens, after all teens, text much more than adults, even when in general they are tech savants compared to adults. Maybe tech companies should start incorporating psychologist into their teams, or if they have them…take them seriously
I agree that unless this is executed flawlessly, it will be much ado about nothing. That said, I *love* Voice commands on my Android phone — but I hate that it only works half the time. If iPhone can deliver a better experience, I’m in.
I agree and disagree. Yes I agree that no one really uses Voice command that much. However I completely disagree with the reason.
People, for the most part, don’t use voice command because in its current state it works like DOS. They are preset, very simple and limited command lines that perform simple limited tasks.
What Siri has introduced is not just better execution of voice command lines. That is the major difference. Voice command works on the principal of man conforming to machine. You speak it’s simple language, you memorize, you do all the thinking. You are basically only feeding it usually 1 to 2 pieces of criteria or info. By speaking the language of the machine, it already has a preset script to run, you are just telling it to run that code script and giving it 1 to 2 details.
Siri is completely different. The machine conforms to man. The machine is the one that must do the thinking, to understand what is being said. But it goes beyond this. The machine doesn’t merely interpret, it remembers, contextualizes within a conversation string, allows for fluid multiple input and editing of information given and ALL without a single preset command line by the user. The user just talks. You can ask it for movie times for X movie nearby, then say “Y” (movie) instead”. It will remember you were just asking about movies, You don’t have to repeat the same unnatural command line for movie times, you just speak how you would normally to a person.
The reason why voice command hasn’t taken off, is not because it is a fad. NO. It has not taken off, because when it comes down to it, it is not a natural process for people, and many times, its faster just to type or finger (unless your hands are busy) Once people can have a fluid conversation with a machine and the machine is able to understand analyze and keep up, This is the game changer. It goes beyond the simple one-task command model. Its the closest thing to AI in a consumer device.
Isn’t Android already backed by the world’s smartest AI?
no :)
;)
The explosion of texting at the expense of voice calls leads me to believe a quieter interaction with digital technology is more likely than an increase in articulated commands.
The remote control of a television or car starter are practical technological applications, broadcasting to the world you need a nearby drugstore is an unlikely occurrence.
A voice command that opens my Twitter page is a bore at best and a nightmare at worst if every entry is unleashed unto the soundstage of public transit.
No, I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves if we think verbal search commands will become common practice.
Not true if you drive your own car. Voice commands are a much safer way to things done on your phone while on the road. Plus it is quicker than texting if it is accurate. I sometimes use voice commands to type my texts instead of typing my message out a letter at a time.
yes I agree, but this service is by no means groundbreaking…
maybe it’s not as smooth as siri but I thought vlingo and google voice actions did the same thing? Don’t they learn and adapt to the user?
yes google voice will learn and adapt to your voice….
Article mentions that Apple ‘mainstreaming’ Artificial Intelligence in the form of a Virtual Personal Assistant is a groundbreaking/world-changing event.
As previous technology, the’re already there and Apple glorified and over hype everything and then all tose iSupporter praise gave em all credit that apple invent it all.
Oh, c´mon, pleasssssseeee, GET REAL!!
Artificial intelligence is used by the big telephone companies all over the world, and their robotic answering systems are absolutely pathetic (and everyone hates them).
AI is decades if not centuries away from making a noticeable impact on our lives.
If Siri is all Android has to worry about, the future is looking pretty bright for Android!
android has android to worry about;)
You know what changed everything? Open heart surgery.
bad signal will ruin everything…
Apple = Innovation
Apple = Buying Innovation
Fixed it for you. Re: “Two months after its launch, Apple acquired Siri for more than $200 million.”
Its the same with Android…
Ahah, poor guy, just discovered the world of technology
I never use voice commands to make phone calls, and I’ve had that capability in my various phones for at least the last 10 years. When I call a company and a machine tells me to say my option, I skip through that with buttons until I am talking to a person.
I don’t think talking to a device is going to revolutionize anything, at least in my world.
Another small beef with the article… Apple didn’t bring a Touch Screen revolution. Nintendo did, with the DS, and was laughed at for doing that until it caught on. Now we can suddenly say that “Apple” did it? Bull.
I agree with gregpettit’s comments entirely on the whole thing. (Save for the point about Motion Controls. They did change everything, the only difference is that Nintendo understood that we still wanted the buttons and D-pads (another of Nintendo’s inventions), while Microsoft didn’t recognize the importance of buttons.)
Wow, this Siri apps is really impressive. I tried to search in the apps store using my iphone but I can’t find it. Any idea how to find it in apps store?
Here is a link right to it http://bit.ly/oLbPi0
[human intelligence to follow later] #in #fb
This can already be done in Android. I just hit the voice action button and said “map of Chinese restaurants”. It recognized my command and brought up google maps with the closest ten chinese spots. I don’t see how this is so “game changing”. The only new thing that sounds interesting is the ability to schedule a meeting with a contact. Google voice actions currently supports email to, text to, call, search, map, navigate to (directions), listen to, set alarm, and notes.
Gotta love that Apple PR machine…..
This isn’t the same as the simple voice commands phones have had for most of the last decade, including Android’s implementation. This is artificial intelligence that can actually have a conversation with you. I’m an Android user and very impressed by this.
Finally an Android users with a open mind of sorts. I love A.I. stuff its one of things that make Nerd out. Trying to explain to Android friends result in nothing but rolled eyes. It won’t be perfect at launch nothing ever is but over time it could be something amazing the more it matures.
mm… have a conversation? It looked to me like it was only identifying key words and using those to determine what the user was looking for… this is quite a bit different than interpreting a sentence and responding with an intelligent answer.
When driving with hands engaged voice command for tunes or directions or dialing numbers is private and practical so I can see how the enthusiastic could believe that extends into more walks of life. But “revolutionary” no wonder Peter made you put an Op-Ed caveat at the top. Mismanaging public expectations is the domain of the tabloid and cheer-leading the exercise of the naive.
take this one #android!
people like to text message because the like the privacy of not talking in a room full of people. I have speech recognition on my phone and the only time i use it is to look smug to blackberry users.
There isn’t anything new there. Apple is good at taking an old idea/technology and recycling it in a new appealing way focusing on design and usability. I guess that’s genius as long as they get a bigger market share that’s all what matters.
과연 “world-changing event”가 될 수 있을까.
Blackberry, worry
Wowzer.
Wow! Just the tip of the iceberg?!
Tip of the iceberg!
So throughout an office, the bus, a coffeeshop…we’ll hear people chirping instructions into their phone? From the confidential to the embarrassing to the trivial? “Book a bikini wax on Tuesday before my lunch appt with Brandon.” Call me a skeptic, and a dissenter…
I think there is a mistake in your first paragraph. It should actually read:
“That was told by saying that it was not suddenly going to give incentives and become Skynet however if one is about to become a whole lot smarter thanks the couple and its new artificial intelligence assistant” – speech transcribed by “Nuance’s advance voice-recognition technology”, on an iPhone 4, today.
I hope I’m wrong but based on my real-world experience of “state of the art” voice recognition the most likely way it will change my world is by having my local pizza place deliver “one Hawaiian pizza, one bottle wings and one of the call” on a regular basis.
Scary in good way
A New Computing Revolution, yes! @wcolbert, get moving on that degree!
ホントかなぁ。
This really isn’t about voice recognition, which is merely the method the user will use to interface with the software.
So this is what reality distortion is all about? Re-package it and sell it as new your own invention. There is no new technology mentioned here. What makes us turn off those apps which read aloud SMS or email is what will make this a failure…. So Apple customers will be told to fork out much more money simply for this? The Apple PR machine will tell users that iphone can fly you back into time for real.
So, in summary:
People like a ‘quiet’ interaction with their phones. No-one wants to talk to their device when they can quickly and easily type in a search request, calendar appointment or select an app with their fingers.
Android already has AI in the form of Google Voice Search. It’s okay. It doesn’t work too well in any room with a normal amount of background noise. Hardly anyone with Android actually uses it.
In the UK at least, even using a Bluetooth headset anywhere other than in your car has negative connotations (snob, wide-boy, wheeler-dealer) so people using Apple’s Assistant in public will just not happen. Users will be embarrassed using it.
In-car voice commands just don’t work very well – those saying that they already have the tech are being daft.
Oh, and does anyone remember when ‘Augmented Reality’ was the next big game changer? We were all supposed to be wandering around our cities glued to our smart-phones seeing things displayed like a futuristic HUD (Head-Up Display).
Yeah, me too.
I think I am getting tired waiting this Apple Event. Is the event tomorrow broadcasting live also?
Congratulations Apple! Again everyone talks about “innovations” and you “changing everything”, ignoring you only copied technology every other OS already uses!
OSX and iOS already has similar voice recognition as the “other OSes” you are talking about. But they aren’t “copying” themselves either – they are expanding on top of it. The only competitor is what you can find on an Android. Please compare Siri with the Android and decide after that.
What Artificial Intelligence Does to the iPhone- it makes the iPhone more moronic
we heads that way
Launches tomorrow-how exciting!
Ha!
I don’t like the name
“Siri” means “Penis” in Georgian :D
lol, best comment yet
Bing and wp7 are already there.
Artificial Intelligence Is Coming to the iPhone, And It’s Going to Change Everything
really smart phones
“Make no mistake: Apple’s ‘mainstreaming’ Artificial Intelligence in the form of a Virtual Personal Assistant is a groundbreaking event.”
It changes everything because apple did it. Everything apple does gets ridiculous popularity and recognition. I have seen very little android rumours on mashable or at all google and the companies that make phones for them lack in secrecy and lack in people caring. Am I not right?
I can already see Apple totally surprising everyone with something so unexpected we would have never seen it coming. Gotta remember that they always shock us with new ideas, that’s why they’re the leaders
Reaaallyyyy?
AI is coming…
Sounds cool!
Scary but intersting
Hello, HAL.
Kren nih kalo emang bisa jalan di Indonesia
ABout time!