Users say Siri struggles in Japanese debut

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014


Apple added Japanese language support to Siri last week with the release of iOS 5.1, but some Japanese speakers are having trouble being understood by the voice assistant.



A video posted to YouTube shows a man performing a side-by-side Japanese comprehension comparison of Apple's Siri and DoCoMo's own voice-recognition feature Syabette Concier, as noted by Kotaku. Siri was able to understand basic commands, but it had difficulty registering more advanced requests.



For instance, when asked, "Is it cold outside?," both Siri and Syabette Concier provided weather data. When the speaker said, "I have a stomach ache," Siri did not understand, while Syabette offered information on the nearest hospital.



A request for tomorrow's schedule was accurately responded to by Syabette, but Siri only understood the schedule part. Siri was unable to provide a map of Chigasaki because it is limited in the location data that it can call up outside the U.S. As a local Japanese solution, Syabette easily accessed the map.



Siri was also unable to handle a search for videos of a Japanese pop singer with a gibberish name, while Syabette had no problem with it. "Seems like Siri can only comprehend simple and universal Japanese," the report noted.







According to the report, Apple's virtual assistant was able to set an alarm, but it faltered on a tongue twister and a statement about cooking curry. Loading times were also longer on average for Siri than for Docomo's version.



Apple telegraphed the arrival of Japanese Siri support last month when Siri began claiming that she could already speak the language. Last Wednesday's release of iOS 5.1 on the heels of the iPad unveiling added a Japanese-speaking Siri to the iPhone 4S.



Some English speakers have also complained that Siri does not perform well for them. The software appears to have specific trouble with several regional accents or certain variants of non-native English.



Others have accused Apple of false advertising with its Siri commercials. An iPhone 4S owner from New York sued Apple on Monday with allegations that Siri is far less responsive and accurate than depicted in its commercials. For its part, Apple has covered some of its tracks by releasing Siri in beta mode and disclaiming that sequences had been shortened during its commercials.







Some voice-recognition experts have suggested that Apple needed to release a beta version of Siri to the public in order to acquire a volume of voice samples sufficient for refining the service.



Apple's plans to expand Siri have included the hiring of new "Language Technologies Engineers" tasked with bringing new languages to the software and other cloud-based services.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 67
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    It's beta ok?
  • Reply 2 of 67
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    The article says Siri is slower but from the video it looks like Siri is getting information on the display faster. I can't tell if it's relevant or correct info, or which phone is verbally responding first. Can a Japanese speaker clarify some of the results?



    PS: Is the UK the only male Siri voice?
  • Reply 3 of 67
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member
    Tallest Skil says it's entirely due to user error. What's wrong with these people that they don't just accept that? It's the flawless pinacle of voice recognition and has never, ever erred when used properly. Never. Ever.
  • Reply 4 of 67
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jlandd View Post


    Tallest Skil says it's entirely due to user error.



    Link?



    Quote:

    What's wrong with these people that they don't just accept that? It's the flawless pinacle of voice recognition and has never, ever erred when used properly. Never. Ever.



    Nothing is flawless, certainly not voice recognition. I think the application of "beta" signifies that.
  • Reply 5 of 67
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    stop slurring your words people!!!



    LOL
  • Reply 6 of 67
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    stop slurring your words people!!!



    LOL



    One could argue that slurring and general apathy toward stringent pronunciation is one aspect that helps creates distinct dialects. And one could then argue that for Siri (or any voice dictation software) to be complete it needs to understand different dialects. And one could argue that it also needs to learn to understand particular user's voice patterns the way iOS learn to understand commonly used words that aren't previously in its dictionary DB. Then one could probably stop arguing.



    For example: Gabagool appears to be a Sicilian pronunciation for the Italian word Capicola.
  • Reply 7 of 67
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Siri is not a fucking mind reader. It's a small miracle it works as well as it does, considering the infinite number of pronunciations, thousands of similar sounding words, accents, contexts, etc. It will get better slowly over time, but it isn't magic, just a shit-ton of data being crunched and algorithms intended to figure out what the hell it is you just said.
  • Reply 8 of 67
    Don't like Siri, return the phone.
  • Reply 9 of 67
    The lag in response time doesn't seem to be too much of an issue. Both Siri and the Docomo phone respond promptly to voice input in that video. Unfortunately, Siri's response usually boils down to "Sorry dude, no idea what you're saying". The Japanese guy in the video uses clear and easy language. My Japanese sucks but I had no problem understanding anything he said. This video kind of reminded me of the one from a few months ago that pit Siris against the Google system. Unfortunately, in this video, Apple is Google.
  • Reply 10 of 67
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    It's beta ok?



    Perhaps Apple needs to post a support article about what Beta means.
  • Reply 11 of 67
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jlandd View Post


    Tallest Skil says it's entirely due to user error.



    That was tongue-in-cheek.







    OH GOSH, I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THAT. OW, THAT WAS A PAINFUL PUN. Of course I'm leaving it.



    Quote:

    It's the flawless pinnacle of voice recognition and has never, ever erred when used properly. Never. Ever.



    My original overarching point, that it's in beta, had already been expounded upon by the previous hundred or so posts.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    stop slurring your words people!!!



    Not sure if you're entirely serious here, but that IS a valid problem. Yewanna putta suthun drawhl inya voyse, thassfine. You's betta cleannit upfowh ya's Siri yuuse, thowuh.
  • Reply 12 of 67
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    It's beta ok?



    That's no excuse! The Japanese have been working on conversational A.I. for decades. Have you seen their Android equivalent of Siri?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpO57NltoAI
  • Reply 13 of 67
    dunksdunks Posts: 1,254member
    Siri seems to understand me most of the time. I tried Japanese Siri on the weekend but couldn't get her to understand anything other than "atsui desu ka", which is not surprising considering it's not my native tongue.



    Australian Siri sounds the most natural to me. Even the vocal pitch and inflections are spot on for the content. When she apologizes she actually sounds concerned.
  • Reply 14 of 67
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    That was tongue-in-cheek.



    ?



    OH GOSH, I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THAT. OW, THAT WAS A PAINFUL PUN. Of course I'm leaving it.







    My original overarching point, that it's in beta, had already been expounded upon by the previous hundred or so posts.






    And I forgot to put in a smiley, because I wasn't too Siri-ous either
  • Reply 15 of 67
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Not sure if you're entirely serious here, but that IS a valid problem. Yewanna putta suthun drawhl inya voyse, thassfine. You's betta cleannit upfowh ya's Siri yuuse, thowuh.



    When surveyed about whether they would purchase the iPhone 4S to use Siri, 9 out of 10 Italian gangsters said, 'Fugettaboutit!'.
  • Reply 16 of 67
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jlandd View Post


    And I forgot to put in a smiley, because I wasn't too Siri-ous either



  • Reply 17 of 67
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    I'd like to know how you got those scars.



    In other news, a Tokyo man reports that Siri, dishonoured by her failure to accurately complete her tasks, has just committed seppuku.



    Fortunately, this is covered under Apple's Japanese warranty.
  • Reply 18 of 67
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    "Siri" is a slightly unfortunate name in Japanese. There's no pure "si" phoneme in the Japanese language. Intead, "si" is pronounced "shi." And "shiri" means "rear end" or "butt."



    Oops.
  • Reply 19 of 67
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post


    "Siri" is a slightly unfortunate name in Japanese. There's no pure "si" phoneme in the Japanese language. Intead, "si" is pronounced "shi." And "shiri" means "rear end" or "butt."



    Oops.



    Well then what's?



    ?oh. Shiritori actually does include that in its meaning? never mind.
  • Reply 20 of 67
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    For example: Gabagool appears to be a Sicilian pronunciation for the Italian word Capicola.



    Yes, and, by the same token, "baddabing" appears to be the universal pronunciation for...uh...

    "baddabing"...



    On a more serious note, due to the penetration of the ad campaign and accompanying fanfare, I was not aware, until Apple had to emphasize it in their statement vis a vis the lawsuit, that Siri was, in fact, considered a beta.



    Now I'm sure that a lot of you on this thread, the lawsuit thread, and AI in general WERE aware of it, and that many more wouldn't ever admit that they weren't, but I do remember that when Boot Camp first came out, it was very clearly described as beta.



    I don't have a 4S, nor did I have an Intel Mac at that time, so I'd have had no specific reason to be aware of either one, but I really think Apple presented the issue much differently this time.



    Just IMHO
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