In December, Apple published research showing it can make LLM AI models run on-device in a similar way that Qualcomm and MediaTek have done for their chips in Android phones. This may indicate that Siri will get a long-awaited overhaul that iPhone fans have been waiting for, including the ability to chat like ChatGPT.
Only Apple knows what’s next for the iPhone and its other products, but here’s how Siri could change in the iPhone 16.
Siri could improve follow-up requests
Imagine you ask Siri about when the Olympics are taking place. It quickly spits out the correct dates in the summer of this year. But if you follow that up with, “Add it to my calendar,” the virtual assistant tends to respond imperfectly with “What should I call it?” The answer to that question would be obvious to us humans. Even when I responded, “Olympics,” Siri replied, “When should I schedule it for?”
The reason Siri tends to falter is that it lacks contextual awareness. That limits its ability to follow a conversation like a human can. However, that could change in June of this year, when Apple is rumoured to unveil improvements to Siri via iOS 18.
The iPhone maker is training Siri (and the iPhone’s Spotlight search tool) on large language models in order to improve the virtual assistant’s ability to answer more questions accurately, according to the October edition of Mark Gurman’s Bloomberg newsletter PowerOn. A large language model is a specific kind of AI that excels at understanding and producing natural language. With advancements in LLMs, Siri is likely to become more skilled at processing the way people speak. This should not only allow Siri to understand more complex and nuanced questions, but also provide accurate responses. All in all Siri is expected to become a more context-aware and powerful virtual assistant.
Siri may get better at executing multistep tasks
Apart from understanding people better, Siri is also expected to become more capable and efficient in the coming months. Apple plans to use large language models to make Siri smarter, according to a September report from the Information. The article detailed an example explaining how Siri might respond to simple voice commands for more complex tasks, such as turning a set of photos into a GIF and then sending them to one of your contacts, which would be a significant step forward in Siri’s capabilities.
Watch this: iOS 17 Brings Big Changes to Old Habits: Live Voicemail, AirDrop and Siri
Siri may improve its interactions with the Messages app (an other apps)
Apart from answering questions, the next version of Siri could become better at automatically completing sentences, according to a Bloomberg report published in October.
Thanks to LLMs, which are trained on troves of data, Siri is expected to up its predictive text game. Beyond that, Apple is rumored to be planning to add AI to as many Apple apps as possible which could even include a feature in the Messages app to craft complex messages.
Apple never talks specifics about products before they launch. Since Apple usually unveils new iPhone software features at WWDC in June, we’ll likely know more about iPhone AI plans then.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.
I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites
The Meta AI tool is present on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger to varying degrees, appearing in feeds, chats, searches and other components of the platforms. While Meta advertised the tool as a way to “get things done, learn, create and connect with the things that matter to you,” many users have found the unsolicited presence of AI functionality nothing more than annoying.
The bad news is that you cannot simply opt out of the Meta AI entirely. There is no kill switch to turn it all off, but people are still dedicated to finding ways around the unwanted intrusions. One of the most bothersome features, Meta AI chat, for example, can be curtailed following a few simple steps.
Hoping to turn your Meta AI chat off? Here’s how in a few quick steps:
How to turn off Meta AI chat on Facebook
◾ Open Facebook and look for the search bar at the top of the page. Instead of a magnifying glass, it now appears as a blue-gradient circle.
◾ Once in the search bar, click the blue arrow that appears to the right.
◾ This will take you to the Meta AI chat. Look for the “i” icon in the upper right corner and click it.
◾ Click the “mute” option that appears on the next page.
◾ Select how long you want to mute the chat. If you’re looking to do so indefinitely, choose the “until I change it” option.
How to turn off Meta AI chat on Instagram
The process on Instagram is much the same as Facebook, just on a slightly different interface.
◾ Locate the search bar at the top of the page and click it. Again, what was formerly a magnifying glass may now appear as a circle. Click the arrow that appears to the right of the search bar.
◾ This will again bring you to Meta AI chat. Click the “i” icon located in the top right-hand corner of the page.
◾ Select the “mute” option that appears on the following page.
◾ Click the slider at the bottom that says “mute notifications,” then select the duration of time you want the chat muted. Again, choose the “until I change it” option if you want it turned off indefinitely.
While these steps won’t scrub the presence of Meta AI completely from your Facebook and Instagram experiences, they will mute and prevent notifications from Meta AI chat, one of the features netizens have found most bothersome.
You can continue to use the “search” functions on both platforms like normal but may see AI-suggested searches interspersed in regular search results.
AI functions may appear when scrolling through your feed as well, appearing as full-sized advertisements and cards or under regular posts with offers of “ask Meta AI” and “tell me more about…..” Unfortunately, this cannot be turned off at this time, but you can avoid clicking them to continue your browsing as usual.
In WhatsApp and Messenger, simply delete the Meta AI chat thread that appears in the apps. This will remove the conversation and remove it from your contact list, making the AI functions relatively easy to ignore.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, remains one of the hot-button tech issues of the year, with an increasing number of companies…
