apple inc AAPL is working on simplifying the method of invoking his voice assistant – Siri, on its hardware products like iPhones, iPads and Macs.
What happened: If the effort bears fruit, a user can simply say “Siri” followed by a command instead of “Hey Siri,” currently a Bloomberg columnist Markus Gurmann said in its weekly “Power On” newsletter. The transition is technically challenging and would require a significant amount of “AI training and underlying engineering work,” he added.
Cupertino has reportedly been working on the Switch for several months and is currently testing it with employees to gather the necessary training data, Gurman said. The change will likely roll out in either 2023 or 2024, he said.
The challenge is getting Siri to understand the single phrase “Siri” in multiple accents and dialects, the Apple specialist said, adding that two words increase the likelihood that the system will pick up the signal correctly.
Why it matters: While acknowledging that Siri has improved over the years, Gurman said the system can still often misunderstand users or take the wrong course of action on a request.
“The pace of improvement hasn’t always kept pace with the competition, either,” he said.
If the shift is made, Apple would follow in the footsteps of Amazon, Inc. AMZN, whose personal assistant can be invoked simply by saying “Alexa” instead of “Hey Alexa,” the Apple author said. By the way, Alphabet, Inc Google WELL Google asks for an “OK Google” or “Hey Google” prompt. However, the company has been working on allowing users to make follow-up requests without repeating the activation word, he added.
Removing “Hey” in “Hey Siri” can also speed up back-to-back requests, Gurman said.
“For me, an even better change would be if Apple allowed users – through…
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