The most powerful Siri ever, is finally here!
Since the second half of last year, ChatGPT has begun to explode around the world, and mobile phone manufacturers on the cusp have also begun to lay out the AI field, while Apple's pace is slightly behind, and former Apple engineer John Burkey once commented: "Siri is too stupid to compete with ChatGPT."
But now, Apple is officially ready to fight back! The much-anticipated "Annual Worldwide Developers Conference" (WWDC) has been officially announced to be held online from June 10 to 15, Beijing time, and iOS 18 has become the absolute highlight of this conference.
At present, it is reported that one of the major changes in iOS 18 is the introduction of a large number of AI features, and the first batch of AI features are likely to run entirely on the iPhone device, and even CEO Cook also announced at the end of the new product launch conference two days ago that WWDC will be accompanied by "a series of wonderful sharing".
Today, Apple and OpenAI have also finalized an agreement to introduce ChatGPT technology to the iPhone.
Earlier, it was said that Apple had negotiated cooperation with Google, hoping to use Google's Gemini Chatbot technology, but it seems that this cooperation was not negotiated, giving OpenAI a "chance".
According to current intelligence, OpenAI will provide Apple with AI chatbot technology, which will be integrated into Apple's upcoming AI assistant.
In other words, Apple will release iOS 18 at WWDC next month and launch Siri with ChatGPT incorporating.
In this way, Siri, which was born in 2011, is finally about to usher in a chance to turn over.
First of all, it is predictable that the upgraded Siri will be able to speak well and be versatile. In terms of mechanism, unlike other large models, the new Siri is expected to have an innovative generative AI mechanism built-in, mainly to expand its functional scope and better serve the needs of daily users, such as quickly setting reminders, managing schedules, etc., of course, the new Siri can also summarize text messages, and is no longer an independent chatbot product at all.
At the same time, the conversation experience has also been upgraded, and the new Siri has the same real "chat" ability as ChatGPT, and it will no longer be a simple "question and answer".
Apple also took privacy into account when developing the new Siri, according to a recent Bloomberg report, in iOS 18, Apple plans to make all AI functions run on the device, and can be used completely offline, then Siri will process all requests will also be done on the "device side", not "on the cloud".
Although a large model that relies on a data center will be easier to use, the scale of the model running locally on the iPhone is limited, so there will be a problem of fast power consumption and slow operation on the terminal, this small model that runs offline may be more suitable for mass users, and more importantly, it can also save Apple a lot of money!
Due to the high cost of cloud computing, OpenAI currently costs around 12 cents for every 1,000 words generated by ChatGPT.
However, small models also have their own drawbacks, that is, they are more prone to errors and fabrications, which is the so-called hallucination. Therefore, Apple also upgraded the memory to 8GB on the high-end version of the iPhone 15 series in advance, which may be preparing for the new Siri in advance.
In addition, in terms of wake-up methods, perhaps there will be big changes this time, and it was revealed earlier that Apple's internal team is envisioning the development of a method that can use AI assistants without the wake-up word Hey Siri or Siri.
That is, as soon as Siri hears you, your iPhone will start preparing to process more information and complete instructions faster.
Judging from the only exposure so far, this Siri upgrade can be called a "brain change" level, and it is gradually considering changing the way everyone uses mobile phones.
In addition to Siri's major changes, the upcoming iOS 18 system also shows its ambitions in the field of AI. In January, Bloomberg once again highlighted that iOS 18 has the potential to be the "biggest" software update in iPhone history.
First of all, we will often use Apple's own Safari browser, according to a number of information sources, the new Safari can achieve the function of generating text summaries, that is, AI software will analyze key words and sentences in web pages or documents, extract core information, so as to save users reading time.
For testing, Apple integrated an AI model called "Ajax" into the phone, which can recognize entities in the text, such as companies, people, and places, and if a name appears at the top of the text, the large model will mark it as the author of the text, and after analysis, the Ajax model will generate a very concise summary.
However, more complex text summaries and responses may still need to be processed online, or this will be achieved by introducing OpenAI's cloud technology.
In addition, Apple plans to add a redesigned controls menu to the Safari address bar to centralize the management of old and new web control tools.
On top of that, the new Safari will also introduce a feature called Web Eraser, which allows users to remove specific parts of a web page, such as ads, images, and more.
While some third-party ad blockers already offer similar features, Apple seems to be planning to build it in iOS 18 and macOS 15.
In addition to the browser change, this time the "Voice Memo" has also become more up-to-date, after the update, after the user presses the record button to speak, the built-in AI model of the system will convert the relevant speech into text, which is quite useful when taking online classes or meetings.
In addition, the "Notes" app will also usher in the ability to record audio, and the system will automatically sort out the text of the main content of the relevant speech and summarize the key points, and the functional update of the two apps is a bit similar.
In addition to this, Apple is also considering integrating generative AI technology into AppleMusic. According to the news, Apple plans to introduce an automatic playlist creation function, which analyzes users' music preferences, playback records, and genre preferences through AI's intelligent algorithms, so as to automatically generate personalized playlists suitable for users' tastes.
In other words, users will no longer need to manually select and add songs to playlists, but can let AI do the work for them, which is also a big improvement.
In terms of UI, MacRumors reports that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18, but to ensure some consistency, the app icons will remain locked on the invisible grid system of the home screen, so this feature is a bit of a cliché for everyone.
As for the ability to update and the model is also currently exposed, according to foreign technology media, the iOS 18 upgrade list will cover 24 iPhone devices, consistent with the compatibility of iOS 17. That said, iPhone XR users may be getting their last major system update for the model, and the iPhone SE 3 and later models are among the upgrades.
For the current domestic market, Apple also has its own considerations, after all, we can't use ChatGPT at present, so Apple is considering both hands, and has set its sights on Baidu, which has "Wenxin Yiyan", and there has been news that Apple is negotiating with Baidu on AI functions.
You must know that the Samsung Galaxy S24 series models released in February this year are out of the circle with AI functions, call translation, creative writing and other functions are widely acclaimed, and the AI functions on the Samsung S24 series in China are composed of technologies owned by many domestic manufacturers, such as the instant search function provided by Baidu and JD.com, the intelligent retouching is completed by the Meitu App's large model MiracleVision, and the article summary and intelligent writing are based on Baidu's Wenxin Yiyan large model.
Now that Apple attaches so much importance to the domestic market, with Samsung's "pearl" in front, Apple has to keep up.
Many netizens have also expressed their opinions on the updates exposed on Siri and iOS 18, and judging from everyone's comments, it seems that they are looking forward to it.
In this regard, foreign netizens also said that this is long overdue, please give Siri the respect she deserves.
In addition, some netizens expressed their specific expectations for the new system, from the new icons, Siri transformation, overall UI polishing, battery optimization and stability.
As for whether netizens can get their wish, let's wait until next month to find out.