Siri — Apple’s voice-based assistant for iPhone, iPad, Mac, HomePod, and Apple TV — could soon be getting a massive upgrade, according to a report. The Cupertino-based company is said to be working on new natural language technology for Siri on an upcoming version of tvOS, its operating system for the Apple TV and HomePod. While the technology is expected to bring improved functionality to Apple’s voice assistant, the company is unlikely to be working on AI chatbots that can compete with OpenAI’s or Google Bard’s ChatGPT.
According to a 9to5Mac reportApple is working on a new framework for the voice assistant’s “Siri Natural Language Generation” functionality. The technology, codenamed “Bobcat,” was spotted on tvOS 16.4, which is currently in testing. The publication also claims that its findings confirm a New York Times report that the company is developing “language-generating concepts.”
The Google Assistant, Siri’s main competitor, has evolved rapidly over the years, allowing users to receive information-rich responses to queries, along with witty and contextual responses to specific commands. The report notes that Siri’s development has faced challenges because the assistant doesn’t use any form of artificial intelligence and continues to rely on a template-based system.
While the new natural language technology is being tested on the latest tvOS 16.4 beta, there’s no word on whether it will make its way into the final release, which is expected in the coming weeks. Apple might choose to continue testing these features in the beta channel.
The report also states that the same code that enables the functionality on tvOS exists on iOS, iPadOS and macOS – suggesting Apple could bring the new natural language technology to its other devices as well.
While it sounds like Siri is finally getting meaningful upgrades in the way it responds to user requests thanks to AI, it is unlikely that Apple will launch an advanced ChatGPT competitor in the near future. It’s also worth noting that Apple is yet to reveal details on plans to roll out an improved version of Siri for the Apple TV, as well as other devices like the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and HomePod.
