Hands On with Siri AI: A More Personal and Helpful Voice Assistant

I'm outside hiking and testing a developer beta of Siri AI, Apple's revamped voice assistant, when fog engulfs the Golden Gate Bridge behind me. It's beautiful, but I'm coatless, cold, and ready for something cozy. So, I pull out my iPhone and ask this new Siri where I can grab some fluffy pancakes nearby.

A translucent orb at the top of the smartphone screen spins around a few times, then the voice assistant responds with a recommendation: a spot called Eats in the Inner Richmond. This version of Siri—conversational, omnipresent, actually helpful—has been long delayed. At its annual developer conference this year, though, Apple shared how it would finally come to fruition as part of iOS 17.

The voice assistant is now highly personalized based on your messages, photos, and emails. It's also better at understanding questions and interacting with apps. Basically, it feels nothing like Siri of yore.

That's a good thing. Since Apple plans to roll out this voice assistant to the public later this year, I was curious to see how helpful Siri AI could be as a travel guide, even in its beta form. How would it feel to spend a day as a Siri-assisted tourist?

So I grabbed my iPhone and headed out to explore San Francisco. The evolution of Siri is striking, even in this nascent iteration. Whereas before Siri was a more limited, isolated experience, it's now merged into the iPhone search bar and pops up if you swipe down in the middle of your screen.

You can chat conversationally with it or swipe down on Siri's answers to text any follow-up questions. These back-and-forths are stored in a dedicated app, so you can return to past conversations. Why this matters: Apple's revamped Siri AI has significant implications for the way we interact with our devices and access information.

As a more personalized and conversational voice assistant, Siri AI has the potential to make our interactions with technology feel more natural and intuitive. For developers, this means a new set of tools and APIs to integrate with their apps, potentially leading to more seamless and engaging user experiences. For businesses, it could mean new opportunities for customer engagement and support.

And for consumers, it means a more helpful and personalized experience, whether they're looking for recommendations or trying to get things done. However, questions remain about how Siri AI will handle complex tasks and sensitive information, and how it will differentiate itself from other voice assistants on the market. As the technology continues to evolve, one thing is clear: the future of human-computer interaction is looking more conversational than ever.