Why Apple needs to go all in on AI in 2024

Siri was pretty mind blowing when Apple launched it alongside the iPhone 4S in 2011. Back then, voice assistants were brand new – but in the intervening years, thanks to the arrival of Amazon and Google's own attempts, Siri has begun to look a little, er, less intelligent than her competitors. And with the advent of AI-powered assistants such as ChatGPT, Siri is getting seriously left behind. But that might all be about to change. 

We've heard tell for a while that Apple is planning to unveil a new wave of its own generative AI tools at this year's WWDC, including a brand new on-device assistant. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has been testing a large language model since early 2023, and is set to launch a completely revamped version of Siri. And it won't be a moment too soon. (In the market for new gear? Check out the best iPhone 15 deals available now.)

We also recently heard from a prolific Apple leaker on Twitter (sorry, X) that Apple is "using LLM to completely revamp Siri into the ultimate virtual assistant and is preparing to develop it into Apple's most powerful killer AI app." It could be revealed as soon as this summer, and become standard on the iPhone 16 and beyond.

This isn't the first time Apple has shown an interest in on-device AI. The newly launched Journal app uses the tech to create personalised suggestions of "moments for you to remember and write about based on your photos, music, workouts and more." But the idea of turning Siri, a system-wide feature, into an AI powerhouse, suggests perhaps a greater commitment to AI from Apple than we'd anticipated. 

While Microsoft is adding dedicated AI keys to its keyboards and Google is incorporating AI into its image search, Apple has proven hesitant to embrace the tech (or even call it AI – the company frequently refers to "machine learning"). That said, we know that Apple prefers to swoop on a nascent technology after it's had some time to mature, often ending the race with its own superior take on the tech. That certainly seems to be the plan with its Vision Pro headset. 

And while AI might be a touchy subject right now, particularly in the world of art and design, I'm all for anything that could make Siri a little more useful. In its current iteration, the digital assistant is less responsive than its rivals – and the incredible abilities of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT have only emphasised Siri's shortcomings. Perhaps next year, it'll finally become a little less common to have Siri respond, "I'm sorry, I don't understand."