Siri co-founder says Apple is asking too much of its virtual assistant

When Siri debuted on the Apple iPhone 4s back on October 14th 2011 (tap on the above video), it gave Apple a huge lead in the virtual assistant race. And while Apple has improved Siri over the subsequent seven years, Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant are considered the top two virtual assistants currently available. Ironically, Siri co-founder Norman Winarsky says that the problem is that Apple is asking Siri to be too many things to too many people.

According to Winarsky, before Apple bought Siri on April 8th, 2010, the plan was to use the virtual assistant as a travel and entertainment concierge. For example, the assistant would already know about your cancelled flight by the time you got to the airport, and would find another way to get you to your destination by the time you pulled your phone out of your pocket. Once Siri reached perfection in that area, the plan was to slowly expand her capabilities.

But Apple had something different in mind. Siri is currently designed to help iOS users in all facets of their lives whether helping users set alarms and timers, gather the latest weather report or answer that question you have about the location of the Grassy Knoll in Dealy Plaza. And while Siri has been struggling, Google Assistant and Alexa seem to have no problems handling a wider range of inquiries than Siri can.


It seems that one of Siri's co-founders is giving us his version of the old saying at it applies to Siri; Jack of all trades, master of none.

source: Quartz via BGR