The response makes sense since you in no way refined the search criteria for Siri to use, so stop fussing and start communicating! You're one of those folks that when asked for directions waves vaguely off in a directions and says, "thataway - over there" aren't you
That all being said - let's remember that Apple, which are careful in setting expectations emphasized that Siri is still beta delivery. There is huge potential here to tap and Apple taps potential slowly and deliberately - no matter how fast or robust us tech geeks want it to happen!
EDIT: One other point, while the Accessibility settings are really good for the iPhone, Siri takes it to a whole other level for blind users.
Siri asked me "Vicky or Victoria Whitendale" I replied Vicky. In which way was my response unclear?
What is the difference between Siri and Nuance? I hear "Siri, powered by Nuance." What does that mean? Doesn't Siri do the entire package? Where does Siri end and Nuance begin?
A week or two ago there was an interview published with the founder of Siri. He said the voice recognition was modular, so if something better came along and Apple wanted to swap out Nuance's for that, they could do it quite easily.
This makes sense, since all the voice recognition needs to do is turn speech into text and then pass it to the AI to interpret and act upon.
As you know, Siri was an App available in the App Store. Now is has disappeared and my version on my iPhone4 stopped working on Saturday (15th). It was working well on that Friday.
When I try to use it, I get, "Sorry, a problem occurred receiving response from the server." Nothing after that.
I asked it last week, "Siri, what time do the Tigers play tonight?" I meant the Detroit Tigers, of course, in the playoffs. Siri had no idea what I was talking about. Okay fine. So I got more specific, explaining baseball, saying playoffs, saying sports team. Nothing.
Yeah, so more databases. I would think that sports schedules and scores would be an easy, useful, and obvious section of data to incorporate.
Yes, I told apple at /feedback...
Your response is really interesting, because it showcases both the power and the pitfalls of this technology. First, it really demonstrates that people are ready to embrace these sorts of "intelligent" agents. Second, it demonstrates the really high bar that is already set in terms of expectation.
You expected a rudimentary AI to know something that many people would not know. It's possible that some people, when asked your question, may have correctly inferred that you were talking about a sports team, but many would not have... and only a small percentage would have been able to understand that you were talking about the Detroit Tigers. In a sense, your expectation is that Siri will 'know' everything about everything, and will be able to correctly infer meaning based on context like where you live, etc. That's a LOT to expect.
I think its going to be interesting to see how far this technology goes in the next year.
What is the difference between Siri and Nuance? I hear "Siri, powered by Nuance." What does that mean? Doesn't Siri do the entire package? Where does Siri end and Nuance begin?
Nuance is the voice recognition.
Siri is the artificial intelligence that allows you to speak conversationally with it.
On the whole I've enjoyed using Siri, I was really happy that the voice used out here in the UK is different to one on the keynote demo..... Much nicer somehow, less computerised.
The only issue I've had is when I ask it to call a contact where I've only entered in the forename, this is especially true for Vicky. Siri correctly picks up that I've said Vicky, searches my address book and offers me three names from my contact list, two of which have surnames and then asks me which Vicky.
When I simply repeat Vicky it waits for two seconds and then bleeps to tell me it does not understand.... come on Siri, even if you did not pick up that I said Vicky you asked me a question. Out of 3 options two have two words and the one has one word, as I only said one word your little brain should assume I meant for you to call/text the contact with just one name!
Be careful, now - you're going to hurt Siri's feelings.
[...] the group of employees who created Siri have worked to make the artificial intelligence's responses "forge an emotional tie with customers." [...]
You might say that Apple has always worked to create emotional ties with customers.
In contrast to Microsoft having always worked to create licensing contracts with corporations.
Siri started off as an application for the iPhone available on the App Store. The software so impressed Apple that the company bought Siri for $200 million in April of 2010, and began integrating it into the iPhone 4S.
Siri is one of the defining features of the iPhone 4S released last Friday.
Siri WAS one of the best apps on my iPhone 4. thanks Apple for advertising your old acquisition as a revolutionary new product while quietly killing it's functionality on legacy devices. i'm not upgrading to the 4S for a "defining feature" that i already had. /rant
What is the difference between Siri and Nuance? I hear "Siri, powered by Nuance." What does that mean? Doesn't Siri do the entire package? Where does Siri end and Nuance begin?
The deciphering of your voice actually takes place on Nuance's servers; that's why Siri only works when it has internet access. Mobile processors simply don't have the processing power to handle that in real time. I believe desktop systems are capable of handling it, though.
Hopefully in a few years, mobile platforms will have the power to do all of the voice recognition without using a remote server.
Yes, it would be awesome if it accessed Watson. Watson (as it came across on Jeopardy, anyway) seems to have been tailored for something like Siri. (Especially in terms of its speed.) And access to other apps, as has been mentioned, although I expect this will eventually come.
Apple might consider a simple thumbs up/thumbs down button for Siri allowing users to rate the answers. I know they don't want to clutter up the interface but it seems they could use a stream of real-time feedback.
Agreed. Be interesting to know how Apple is gathering feedback to improve it.
Siri asked me "Vicky or Victoria Xxxx" I replied Vicky. In which way was my response unclear?
In any relationship, especially new ones, difficulties in communication are fairly common. Don't give up. If you show interest in getting to know her I suspect you will discover what she can do for you. It might be a bit of a bumpy road to start out. A little give and take. But the effort is usually worth it.
Or, you could try not takin' any sh!t off that b!tch. I haven't heard anyone try that yet with siri.
If you want to hear what real edge could be, hunt down the Siri mashup featuring GlaDOS from Portal. I would pay big money to have GlaDOS provide the voice and attitude for Siri's responses. Hilarious.
What is the difference between Siri and Nuance? I hear "Siri, powered by Nuance." What does that mean? Doesn't Siri do the entire package? Where does Siri end and Nuance begin?
Nuance grabs your voice and turns it into text, Siri tries to figure out what the text means in the context of the existing conversion and your past conversations with it.
It understands what you say because of how it was programmed, but it's not real "Artificial intelligence".
There must be an AI element to it server-side. It's the best way it can improve. If they trace the conversations of tens of millions of people and the successful/failed responses along with dialects and locality info, you have the makings of something Google should probably be very mindful of. Google search expects you to talk to it like you are a computer and you have to wade through the incorrect items and adverts. Siri expects you to talk to it like you're a human and it does the legwork like a true assistant should.
There must be an AI element to it server-side. It's the best way it can improve. If they trace the conversations of tens of millions of people and the successful/failed responses along with dialects and locality info, you have the makings of something Google should probably be very mindful of. Google search expects you to talk to it like you are a computer and you have to wade through the incorrect items and adverts. Siri expects you to talk to it like you're a human and it does the legwork like a true assistant should.
From what I've seen there is no way to provide feedback to Siri to indicate it has given an incorrect response, correct?
Comments
The response makes sense since you in no way refined the search criteria for Siri to use, so stop fussing and start communicating! You're one of those folks that when asked for directions waves vaguely off in a directions and says, "thataway - over there" aren't you
That all being said - let's remember that Apple, which are careful in setting expectations emphasized that Siri is still beta delivery. There is huge potential here to tap and Apple taps potential slowly and deliberately - no matter how fast or robust us tech geeks want it to happen!
EDIT: One other point, while the Accessibility settings are really good for the iPhone, Siri takes it to a whole other level for blind users.
Siri asked me "Vicky or Victoria Whitendale" I replied Vicky. In which way was my response unclear?
What is the difference between Siri and Nuance? I hear "Siri, powered by Nuance." What does that mean? Doesn't Siri do the entire package? Where does Siri end and Nuance begin?
A week or two ago there was an interview published with the founder of Siri. He said the voice recognition was modular, so if something better came along and Apple wanted to swap out Nuance's for that, they could do it quite easily.
This makes sense, since all the voice recognition needs to do is turn speech into text and then pass it to the AI to interpret and act upon.
~Philly
When I try to use it, I get, "Sorry, a problem occurred receiving response from the server." Nothing after that.
I asked it last week, "Siri, what time do the Tigers play tonight?" I meant the Detroit Tigers, of course, in the playoffs. Siri had no idea what I was talking about. Okay fine. So I got more specific, explaining baseball, saying playoffs, saying sports team. Nothing.
Yeah, so more databases. I would think that sports schedules and scores would be an easy, useful, and obvious section of data to incorporate.
Yes, I told apple at /feedback...
Your response is really interesting, because it showcases both the power and the pitfalls of this technology. First, it really demonstrates that people are ready to embrace these sorts of "intelligent" agents. Second, it demonstrates the really high bar that is already set in terms of expectation.
You expected a rudimentary AI to know something that many people would not know. It's possible that some people, when asked your question, may have correctly inferred that you were talking about a sports team, but many would not have... and only a small percentage would have been able to understand that you were talking about the Detroit Tigers. In a sense, your expectation is that Siri will 'know' everything about everything, and will be able to correctly infer meaning based on context like where you live, etc. That's a LOT to expect.
I think its going to be interesting to see how far this technology goes in the next year.
Siri asked me "Vicky or Victoria ASDF" I replied Vicky. In which way was my response unclear?
Only one Victoria with that last name on facebook...just saying.
What is the difference between Siri and Nuance? I hear "Siri, powered by Nuance." What does that mean? Doesn't Siri do the entire package? Where does Siri end and Nuance begin?
Nuance is the voice recognition.
Siri is the artificial intelligence that allows you to speak conversationally with it.
On the whole I've enjoyed using Siri, I was really happy that the voice used out here in the UK is different to one on the keynote demo..... Much nicer somehow, less computerised.
The only issue I've had is when I ask it to call a contact where I've only entered in the forename, this is especially true for Vicky. Siri correctly picks up that I've said Vicky, searches my address book and offers me three names from my contact list, two of which have surnames and then asks me which Vicky.
When I simply repeat Vicky it waits for two seconds and then bleeps to tell me it does not understand.... come on Siri, even if you did not pick up that I said Vicky you asked me a question. Out of 3 options two have two words and the one has one word, as I only said one word your little brain should assume I meant for you to call/text the contact with just one name!
Be careful, now - you're going to hurt Siri's feelings.
[...] the group of employees who created Siri have worked to make the artificial intelligence's responses "forge an emotional tie with customers." [...]
You might say that Apple has always worked to create emotional ties with customers.
In contrast to Microsoft having always worked to create licensing contracts with corporations.
Siri is one of the defining features of the iPhone 4S released last Friday.
Siri WAS one of the best apps on my iPhone 4. thanks Apple for advertising your old acquisition as a revolutionary new product while quietly killing it's functionality on legacy devices. i'm not upgrading to the 4S for a "defining feature" that i already had. /rant
What is the difference between Siri and Nuance? I hear "Siri, powered by Nuance." What does that mean? Doesn't Siri do the entire package? Where does Siri end and Nuance begin?
The deciphering of your voice actually takes place on Nuance's servers; that's why Siri only works when it has internet access. Mobile processors simply don't have the processing power to handle that in real time. I believe desktop systems are capable of handling it, though.
Hopefully in a few years, mobile platforms will have the power to do all of the voice recognition without using a remote server.
For Siri to make an impact, it has to be available. Otherwise, I don't think people are going to keep trying to use it.
Second, more databases, sure, but I'd also like it to do more with my phone. Especially toggling settings that are tucked away.
Would love to be able to say, "Turn on my personal hotspot." Or, "Disable Bluetooth."
Yes, it would be awesome if it accessed Watson. Watson (as it came across on Jeopardy, anyway) seems to have been tailored for something like Siri. (Especially in terms of its speed.) And access to other apps, as has been mentioned, although I expect this will eventually come.
Apple might consider a simple thumbs up/thumbs down button for Siri allowing users to rate the answers. I know they don't want to clutter up the interface but it seems they could use a stream of real-time feedback.
Agreed. Be interesting to know how Apple is gathering feedback to improve it.
Siri asked me "Vicky or Victoria Xxxx" I replied Vicky. In which way was my response unclear?
In any relationship, especially new ones, difficulties in communication are fairly common. Don't give up. If you show interest in getting to know her I suspect you will discover what she can do for you. It might be a bit of a bumpy road to start out. A little give and take. But the effort is usually worth it.
Or, you could try not takin' any sh!t off that b!tch. I haven't heard anyone try that yet with siri.
I'm still using a Sony Ericsson K800i...it's probably time to change.
Nah, give it another 10 years.
What is the difference between Siri and Nuance? I hear "Siri, powered by Nuance." What does that mean? Doesn't Siri do the entire package? Where does Siri end and Nuance begin?
Nuance grabs your voice and turns it into text, Siri tries to figure out what the text means in the context of the existing conversion and your past conversations with it.
Both Nuance and Siri were developed at DARPA.
Siri is the artificial intelligence that allows you to speak conversationally with it.
It understands what you say because of how it was programmed, but it's not real "Artificial intelligence".
It understands what you say because of how it was programmed, but it's not real "Artificial intelligence".
There must be an AI element to it server-side. It's the best way it can improve. If they trace the conversations of tens of millions of people and the successful/failed responses along with dialects and locality info, you have the makings of something Google should probably be very mindful of. Google search expects you to talk to it like you are a computer and you have to wade through the incorrect items and adverts. Siri expects you to talk to it like you're a human and it does the legwork like a true assistant should.
There must be an AI element to it server-side. It's the best way it can improve. If they trace the conversations of tens of millions of people and the successful/failed responses along with dialects and locality info, you have the makings of something Google should probably be very mindful of. Google search expects you to talk to it like you are a computer and you have to wade through the incorrect items and adverts. Siri expects you to talk to it like you're a human and it does the legwork like a true assistant should.
From what I've seen there is no way to provide feedback to Siri to indicate it has given an incorrect response, correct?
Siri: There are others?!?!
me: How old are you?
Siri: I'm afraid I can't share that.
me: Sing a song.
Siri: Daisy, Daisy give me your answer do.