Apple took a leap into the AI era on Monday, announcing a long-awaited update to its digital assistant Siri and changes in its operating systems that attempt to more deeply integrate artificial intelligence.The company's share price fell close to 2% after the news, though.While analysts say the changes have potential, whether or not they are a hit with consumers will have to wait to be seen once they are made available to the public later this year.The Siri overhaul comes after repeated delays that raised questions about Apple's commitment to AI, as chatbots and agents have taken center stage in the tech world amid a tsunami of AI investments by other companies."Today we're taking a big step forward," Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president for software design, said at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, held in Cupertino, Calif.
He defended Apple's approach, stressing the company's focus on utility and protecting user privacy."Some appear to be racing forward, seemingly pursuing AI for the sake of AI without clear regard for the people — all of us — that it's ultimately meant to serve," he said."We believe that truly helpful AI must be centered around you and your needs."As chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude have wowed consumers with their ability to answer complex questions and perform digital tasks, Siri has lagged far behind.
On Monday, Apple put on display its new version, with a string of videotaped demonstrations in which Apple employees showed off Siri's new features.The company said the new Siri, dubbed Siri AI, will be accessible through a standalone app, and also through the search function on the home screen of Apple devices and in various other apps, like Photos.It will be able to access cloud computing networks and the internet, but be informed by a user's personal experiences and information on the user's Apple devices, such as their email and text message history.Apple executives showed how Siri AI...