It seems like the ambitions of Apple concerning artificial intelligence have reached a dead end. While its competitors like OpenAI and Google have been bold and pacey with AI developments, Siri still remains like the relic of past AI cultures, having trouble responding to the simplest queries. Not happy with this, CEO Tim Cook has now decided to shake things up at the top and bring a new face who will inspire the future of Siri.
According to Bloomberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook has put Mike Rockwell, currently the Vice President of the Vision Products Group, the team responsible for the Vision Pro, in charge of Siri development. Thus, this move suggests that Apple is desperately trying to revamp its AI capabilities and put Siri on even a reasonably competitive standard.
Leadership Shift in AI
As a result, Giannandrea will no longer oversee Siri, marking an important shift in Apple’s AI strategy. This comes as Cook supposedly lost confidence in John Giannandrea, Apple’s Senior Vice President, Machine Learning and AI Strategy, to execute on product development. In the reorganization, Rockwell will henceforth report to Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President. Meanwhile, Paul Meade, who previously led hardware engineering for the Vision Pro, will head up the Vision Products Group.
Having long been criticized, Siri is said to disappoint its users rather than cater to their needs, especially since the rapid development of AI competitors such as Google Assistant and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. To keep floating amid stiff competition, Apple has begun integrating third-party AI services into its ecosystem. However, these efforts mainly reflect Siri’s shortcomings rather than resolve any issues.
Performance Issues and Apple’s Future
Within more recent tests, Apple Intelligence powered Siri would answer even some basic queries poorly, even to not correctly respond to the simple questions like, Who won the Super Bowl? This creates skepticism towards any AI capability from Apple. Furthermore, Apple just stated that a more personalized experience for Siri is delayed, with the rollout pushed into sometime next year.
Under the guidance of Rockwell in Siri’s development, Apple hopes to bring its innovative ambitions much nearer to what these bring the expectations of users. Transforming Siri into an AI assistant competing with the top enterprises in the industry is yet to be seen. As AI is turning into a base rather than a feature for the next wave of technology, Apple has to quickly pull its thumbs out and start improving Siri, otherwise, the company risks leaving behind users whenever they shift toward AI assistants that meet their needs. Apple actually needs to completely rethink its AI strategy for a future where Apple thrives.
