What is Siri: a review of Apple's interactive assistant and its analogue. Who is Siri? Best friend and personal assistant

In this review, I decided to combine all the necessary knowledge about Siri. From the article you will learn how to set up Siri, how to use it, what it can do and why it is needed at all.

Who is Siri? What is Siri?

Siri (Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) is a personal assistant and question-answering system developed for iOS. Siri uses natural speech processing to answer questions and make recommendations. Siri adapts to each user individually, learning their preferences over time.

Siri's history begins in 2010, when the voice application was released into the App Store by Siri Inc. On April 28, 2010, Siri was acquired by Apple.

Siri is available on the following devices.

iPhone 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, 6, 6 Plus
iPad Mini 1, 2, 3, iPad 3, 4, Air, Air 2
iPod Touch
Apple Watch

Siri in English first appeared in iOS 5. Siri in Russian was released with iOS 8.3.

How to turn Siri on/off?

There is no separate section for Siri in Settings yet. So let's go to Settings->General->Siri. Turn on the Siri checkbox if it is not enabled.

After this, a message appears in the center of the screen, warning the user that requests for Siri are being sent to Apple servers. Click “Enable Siri”

Below we see Siri settings (we’ll come back to them later). We are interested in the item Language. Select "Russian".

Now press the Home button on the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch and hold it without lifting your finger for a couple of seconds. The Siri start window appears on your iPad.

We ask our questions and receive answers or some actions from the system.

Siri Settings

Settings->General->Siri. Let's go through the specific options.

Allow "Hey Siri"— by enabling this option you can activate Siri if the phone is charging. To do this, I must say, you will never guess... “Hey Siri.”

Language— select the Siri language. Yes, you can talk to Siri in any language you know. Moreover, for some languages there are dialects to choose from.

You need to understand that phrases for Siri are spoken by a living person (announcer). This requires resources: that is why Siri still speaks Russian in only a female voice.

Audio review— the essence of this setting is to silence Siri if the phone is in silent mode. By default, Siri will always speak.

My details— this item allows you to select yourself from the Contacts program. Siri will address you as specified in the Nickname field (if available) or by name.

Let me add that Siri can understand human language and she is constantly learning. That is, she understands human phrases like “How are you?” and responds accordingly. Chat with Siri. :)

Siri also provides the widest capabilities in English. There are not many additional options in Russian yet. In particular, the English Siri supports the WolframAlpha system. The translation into Russian is underway, but there is no exact time frame for the appearance of WolframAlpha support in our Siri.

Siri is built into CarPlay. CarPlay is a modern way to control an iPhone in a car, when the most necessary applications adapted for the driver are displayed on the car display screen.

What is Siri

Apple positions Siri as a personal intelligent assistant that performs various actions in response to your requests. With Siri, you can use voice commands to send messages, dial phone numbers, and schedule events and meetings.

By the same token, Siri is not a simple software product. To communicate, you do not need to remember various keywords or phrases as in other similar systems. Siri can recognize natural human speech quite easily. Perhaps the communication style of Russian Siri is less laconic than English - but this is a matter of time.

How to start using Siri

Before starting our experiments, you must be sure that the corresponding function is enabled in your settings and that the device is connected to the Internet.

So, go to “Settings” -> “General” -> “Siri” and see what we have there and how. If the swipe is inactive, then move it to the right and thereby turn on Siri. Here you can activate the ability to call the assistant using the phrase “Hello Siri”, make sure that the Russian language for communication is set and set your data so that Siri can contact you by name.

Now that everything is set up, we can continue. We became familiar with the first way to call the assistant (the phrase “Hello Siri”) when we went to Settings. There is a second, standard method - to alternatively call Siri, hold down the Home button until, after several beeps, the question “How can I help?” appears on the screen of your device.

When you speak, animated audio waves on the screen will let you know that Siri's question-and-answer system is hearing and processing your voice. In order to say the next line in an ongoing dialogue, wait for an answer, and then click on the microphone icon.

In addition, it is worth noting that you can use a Bluetooth headset or ordinary headphones to communicate with Siri. When using headphones with a microphone or remote control, hold the center button; when using a headset, hold the call button for a few seconds.

Siri can also be used in the car. If your car has the “Without Looking” mode, you can use the program using the voice command button on the steering wheel.

Rules for communicating with Siri

The main rule is clear speech, do not forget to help Siri recognize it correctly if your communication takes place in a place with a high level of background noise. To do this, make clear pauses between words, and at the end of the remark, click on the radio wave icon. This way communication will be clearer, faster and more productive.

— Does intonation play a role when pronouncing voice commands?

No! Intonation plays absolutely no role. You can use your natural way of speaking when communicating with Siri. Only if you dictate the text for a note or message, indicate punctuation marks. When you dictate the phrase “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today,” you should say “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today, comma.”

— Are any preliminary settings or training required for Siri to work on the device?

No, no additional user settings are required. The longer you use the program, the more it remembers information about you, and the better it recognizes your voice. This happens because Siri remembers the features of your voice and determines its accent.

In its work, Siri uses information from your calendars, contacts list, reminders and media library. This wide range of possible information helps you accurately answer a large number of questions regarding music playback, appointment creation, reminders and calls. If you want to clear Siri’s so-called “memory” of you and your voice, you need to turn it off and turn it on again.

Your iOS device initially uses standard voice. After the first connection to a network source, a more natural voiceover is automatically downloaded and installed.

The main features of Russian Siri

Russian Siri will help you make a call, find an establishment, create an appointment or reminder, find something on the Internet, identify a song.

In order to find out more possibilities, just ask - “What can you do for me, Siri?” After this, detailed examples of possible queries will appear on the screen.

— What programs does Russian Siri work with after updating iOS 8.3?

Thanks to its capabilities, Siri easily determines which program should be used when processing a request. These programs include: Phone, Calendar, Messages, Weather, Alarms, Music, Twitter, Search on Wikipedia or the Internet, World Clock, Movies, Maps, WolframAlfa, Local Search and many others.

— How does Siri remember information about me?

The quality of the program improves as a result of storing data. To make sure that Siri on your iOS device actually remembers your data, you just need to go to Settings and click My Data.

Storing data is quite easy. Once you ask Siri to dial your sister’s number, she will already be aware of one of your loved ones. By asking her for directions on the best way to get home, or what restaurants are near your work, the program will already remember where you live and what company you work for. Further, in her answers to the questions posed, she will use the information already available about you and your family.

— What languages does Siri support?

Siri can answer questions posed in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, Italian, Cantonese, and Russian (since iOS 8 update). The language can be selected regardless of the country in which you are currently located.

Features of the program

Russian Siri was a very long-awaited new product for iOS device users. After the release of iOS 8.3 beta 2, this built-in program attracted a lot of attention.

Knowing some of the nuances, you can quickly make your work easier with this built-in assistant. The application allows you to assign appropriate names to names. Having once said “My sister is Ira,” Siri will process and save this information, and after the request, “Call my sister,” Siri will dial Ira’s number.

Example requests

Contact book

Call your sister.
What is Igor's number?
What is the boss's email address?

Phone calls

Call Katya at Home.
Call Katya on Mobile.
Show your call history.
How many missed calls do I have?
Who did I call last?
Who left me a message on my answering machine?

Text messages

Tell Denis: “Sorry, I’ll be late.”
Read all new messages.
Read the latest message from Andrey.
Write to the first person in my contact book: “Hello!”

Applications

Upload a photo to Instagram.
Turn on the camera.
Launch the Application Name application.

Calendar

Make appointments for 9am today.
When is my meeting?
Cancel the meeting with Yegor.
Schedule a business lunch for Monday at 1:00 p.m.

Recently, voice assistants have increasingly penetrated our daily lives. Most users of the iPhone and other Apple products are familiar with one of them - Siri, but few understand all the prospects of virtual assistants and know how to use all their capabilities and functions.

What is a voice assistant

Imagine, your devoted friend is always next to you, who is ready to talk to you at any time of the day or night, answer any of your questions and carry out instructions. At the same time, he never gets tired, he is never in a bad mood, and every day he becomes smarter and understands you better. These are voice assistants that are available for everyday use today.

Voice assistants are built into computers, tablets, phones, smartwatches, smart speakers, and even cars. It is important to understand that interaction with the voice assistant is carried out exclusively by voice, without using your hands, without pressing any buttons. This is a fundamentally new way of interaction between a person and a program, which is very similar to communication between people.

Siri from Apple.
Google Assistant Google company.
Alexa from Amazon.
Alice from Yandex.

We have already written about and, and in this article we will talk in detail about Siri.

Voice assistant Siri

Siri is a voice assistant that was the first to support the Russian language, and only then did the domestic one appear, released at the end of 2017, and even later in the summer of 2018 it spoke Russian. Siri recognizes Russian speech quite well, even if music is playing nearby or there are extraneous noises.

Siri on iPhone SE

Siri wasn't always owned by Apple. Initially, it was a separate application in the App Store for iOS. In 2010, Apple acquired Siri Inc. and their unique development. Shortly after the purchase, Apple built Siri into the iPhone 4S and then into its subsequent devices. Then, in 2011, Siri became the first product on the personal voice assistant market.

Siri adapts to each user individually, studies his preferences and begins to better understand his “master.” This is primarily noticeable in the improvement of your voice recognition after the first weeks of use. You can also tell Siri how to address you and the names of your contacts in your address book, so it can understand you better. And when Siri pronounces names incorrectly, you can always correct her and show her the correct accent.

Siri is available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and in almost all modern cars via CarPlay. The way you launch Siri and the list of available commands varies depending on your device.

How to launch Siri on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Launch by pressing the Home button

Siri is available on all iPhones starting with iPhone 4s and running iOS 5 and higher. To launch Siri on an iPhone (excluding iPhone X), you need to press and hold the center Home button.

To launch Siri on iPhone X, you need to press and hold the side button.

After the beep, you can make a request. On some devices, you must wait for Siri to appear on the screen before giving a command.

Hey Siri - How to enable Siri with your voice

Siri can be launched solely using your voice, without pressing any buttons at all. All you have to do is say, “Hey Siri.” After the sound signal, you can ask a question or give a command.

To do this, the “Hey Siri” function must be activated on the device: Settings → Siri and search → Listen to “Hey Siri”.

On all iPhone models, starting with the iPhone 6s, as well as on the iPad Pro, this function can be used at any time by saying “Hey Siri” so that the gadget’s microphones can pick it up. On earlier iPhones and iPads, the always-listening feature only works when your device is connected to a charger.

How to enable Siri on headphones

Using an original Apple headset with remote control buttons or compatible Bluetooth headphones, you can activate Siri by pressing the center button or the call button. After the beep, you can make a request.

Using Apple's AirPods to launch Siri twice touch the outer surface of any earphone.

Siri on Mac

Siri is available on Mac computers running macOS 10.12 Sierra and later versions of the operating system. However, at the moment the functionality of the voice assistant on the Mac is limited. All Siri can do here is make FaceTime calls, write messages, play music, show the weather forecast and help you work with files and folders.

Siri on Mac

It is worth noting that working with files on a computer using a voice assistant is really convenient. Siri can quickly search for files, sort them by type, date or keyword. For example, if you tell Siri, “Show me my photos from yesterday,” a folder with the corresponding media files will open.

There are several ways to activate Siri on Mac:

There will likely be more commands for Siri in future versions of macOS, including commands for HomeKit. This would be a logical continuation of Apple's integration of voice assistant into its laptops and desktops.

Siri functions

Siri, a personal assistant, can answer questions, make recommendations, and carry out commands. Let's look at some of them.

This is just a small part of everything that Siri can do. You can see more commands in our article on commands for Siri. You will find a complete list of commands for the voice assistant in iPhones and Home Pod smart speakers in our reference mobile application, which we regularly update. You can download the Siri Commands app for free. By installing it, you will always have the most up-to-date list of commands for your voice assistant at hand.

She managed to become for many users not only a faithful assistant, but also a pleasant conversationalist, with whom, if you know how to find the right approach, you can exchange a few words. But not everyone knows that this technology has existed for a long time and is not Apple’s own development. In this series of articles, based on materials from the Huffington Post, we will follow the life cycle of the most charming and attractive product of artificial intelligence technology.

For the first time, a wide audience saw that same round icon with a microphone when Apple held a presentation of the iPhone 4S. That morning, the then vice president of the company took the phone in his hands, pressed the button and asked:

“I am your humble personal assistant,” answered a female voice to approving laughter from the audience.

Over time, it became clear that Siri’s place in the lives of users will no longer be so modest. Meanwhile, this virtual assistant was first released in early 2010 as a third-party application for the iPhone. The app was also called Siri and was developed by a 24-person startup that would later be acquired by Apple.

At the time, Siri had a bolder demeanor and a richer feature set. Like science fiction writers dreaming up a character in a novel, Siri co-founder Dag Kittlaus and design expert Harry Saddler carefully crafted the girl's personality and backstory. She had to be “out of this world,” “vaguely familiar with popular culture,” and possessed of “veiled sarcasm,” Kittlaus recalls.

For example, when asked about the gym, Siri could quip: “It wouldn’t hurt you to go there, your grip isn’t the same.” And if you ask “What happened to HAL?” (the brainy talking computer from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey), she would throw out a line like, "I don't want to talk about it." And at that time, the word “fuck” was present in Siri’s vocabulary.

When this brute fell into the hands of Apple, she immediately washed her mouth with soap, depriving her of several old functions and enriching them with new ones. Siri, which Apple acquired for an undisclosed sum believed to range from $150 million to $250 million, was subsequently able to learn multiple languages. She came to the service of millions of people, even though she was programmed to work all over the world. She also gained a voice, whereas previously she only answered questions through written messages. In addition, it was integrated into the iPhone, which allowed it to interact with more functions of the operating system.

However, as impressive as these abilities are, many users don't know that the Apple version of Siri is missing many of the features it was originally equipped with. After all, this was not just an iPhone application, but the result of an initiative funded by the US Department of Defense aimed at creating a virtual assistant that could think and learn.

In its original version, dating back to 2010, Siri was able to communicate with 42 different web services, from Yelp and StubHub to Rotten Tomatoes and Wolfram Alpha, providing the user with one answer that included the most important data received from those sources. She could buy tickets, make restaurant reservations and call a taxi, without any need to open a separate application, register with a special service or make a phone call. In addition, it very efficiently and intuitively adapted to the user's tastes and wishes in order to fulfill queries and produce results that would best suit him.

At a 2010 technology conference, Siri co-founder Tom Gruber demonstrated how the technology works. He said, “Find me a romantic place near my office that serves Italian food.” In response to the request, he received information that contained the most necessary data from Citysearch, Gayot, Yelp, Yahoo! Local, AllMenus.com, Google Maps, BooRah and OpenTable.

According to the creators, Siri was supposed to become an “active mechanism” that allowed people to talk with the Internet. While the search engine used selected keywords to generate a list of links, the active engine could engage in dialogue and then make a decision and act on that decision. Have you had too much alcohol and want to get home? The ability to interact with Google's search engine to find help is unlikely to help you out on its own. But if an active mechanism comes into play, it can transform your incoherent "I'm drunk, take me home" into a command that goes to a taxi service located in the nearest area.

The startup's goal was not to create a better search engine, but to become pioneers in shaping an entirely new paradigm for interacting with the Internet. This paradigm implied that an intelligent system provides a person with answers to questions that interest him, and does not simply load relevant search results, from which he must independently select the most suitable one. If search engines are recognized as the second generation of the Internet, then, as Siri's developers were sure, the active mechanism should have become its third generation.

The active mechanism was designed to be a part of your life that is always at your fingertips. Such an assistant should anticipate your desires and fulfill them before you even think about them. For example, the creators of Siri planned (it did not go further than plans) to develop a way to provide assistance to passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled. The digital assistant could quickly search for flights from other companies, the nearest trains, as well as car rental services that currently have available cars.

Paradoxically, this Siri of the past contained hints about what Siri functions might look like in the future and how artificial intelligence technologies will actively permeate our lives. The global goal of the project was to expand a person’s capabilities by adding an assistant into his life, compensating for the limitations of our brain and eliminating the need to perform unnecessary and boring tasks.

People who were familiar with Siri before 2011 know that Apple's version only partially realized the system's potential. “The creators of Siri saw the future, defined the future, and built the first working version of the future,” said Gary Morgenthaler. This man was one of the first venture investors who believed in the success of Siri and supported the project with money.

“As members of the original team, we are extremely disappointed in how slowly this technology has moved to market since it was acquired by another company.”

But today, with multiple virtual assistants vying for space in our lives, Apple must use the technology it has to turn Siri into a powerful assistant that can bring real value to people. From the history of Siri, it is clear that a fantastic future of digital assistants is coming. And if today Siri is just a technology that flies into the market from the springboard of the iPhone, then it is possible that in the future the iPhone itself will be remembered only as the phone in which the greatest technology Siri debuted.

“There is no doubt that this kinder, more gracious version of HAL will one day become part of the mainstream,” Kittlaus states. “Today she’s just a cover story, but she’s definitely capable of more.”

Based on materials from Huffingtonpost.com

Summer at the exhibition WWDC 2011 Apple showed off iOS 5, presenting most of the new features, with the exception of one, the presentation of which was postponed for several months...

In October 2011, Apple is no longer holding its next presentation. Steve Jobs, and the new head of the company Tim Cook. At this event, the iPhone 4S is shown, and at the very end of the event, the floor is given Scott Forstall- Apple's senior vice president of iOS at that time. And exactly Scott Forstall introduced to the world a beta version of the intelligent voice assistant Siri, which became not only a key innovation of iOS 5, but also exclusive to the iPhone 4S.

The jubilation of the crowd, the criticism of observers and journalists... How much holivar has generated Siri on the Internet? Why is Siri making so much noise?

Who created Siri?

Who created Siri? SRI International, a division of DARPA(Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), began work on Siri in 2007, not Apple, as many assume.

An interesting fact is that Siri is the result of research that has accumulated over forty years. The original developers of Siri were Doug Kitlauss, Tom Grueber, Norman Winarski and Adam Chainer. The CEO of Siri was Doug Kitlaus, but after Siri was bought by Apple, Doug resigned from his post, which is quite logical.

Imagine how large-scale the background to the creation of Siri was, or rather the amount of work of researchers in the field of voice recognition and processing. Research groups from:

Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts State University
University of Rocherster, Stanford University
University of Southern California
Institute for Human Rights and Machine Cognition
Oregon State University

...worked for many years and accumulated information before DARPA decided to get serious about developing a computer voice assistant.

Siri on iPhone 4S

And on October 4, 2011, Siri was shown at the presentation of the iPhone 4S. This is what Apple is focusing on when promoting the next iPhone: Siri integrated into iPhone 4S, interacts with major iOS applications, answers difficult questions - all this is incredibly impressive for all those who have personally worked with Siri.

Of course, there were some accusations and criticism. Apple has been accused of attempting to betray Siri for something new and incredible. According to some, something similar has already existed on other mobile platforms for a long time, and Apple again did not invent anything new...

However, this is not quite true. Once you try Siri in action, this opinion changes dramatically. Famous critic Eldar Murtazin, remained skeptical about the new product, but only until the iPhone 4S fell into his hands.

So what's so special about Siri?

What's so special about Siri? is probably the most common question. The fact is that Siri conducts a full-fledged conversation with the user. At the time of the announcement of the iPhone 4S, Siri was still in beta, but this is not so important, because Siri is constantly being improved and refined, and all this happens remotely.

In addition, Siri uses advanced human speech recognition technology developed by Nuance Communications. Siri adapts individually to each user: listens and studies its owner, analyzing his preferences. It is amazing…

How does Siri work?

Everything here is very interesting. If other voice assistants previously worked simply with a search engine, Siri works with a variety of services, which allows you to accurately answer a variety of questions, including very complex ones.

Having asked a question, it is sent to Apple servers (Siri), where it is processed and sent to the appropriate service. And it’s not just search giants Google and Bing… For example, for business questions, OpenTable, André Gayot, Citysearch, BooRah, Yelp Inc, Yahoo Local, ReserveTravel and Localeze are used. Siri turns to Eventful, StubHub, and LiveKick to find event information. When you ask Siri about movies, it answers using information from MovieTickets.com, Rotten Tomatoes and The New York Times... So Apple's voice assistant can handle most everyday questions, but the key feature is that Siri works with WolframAlpha .

WolframAlpha allows Siri provide answers to the most difficult questions, since this is not a search engine. WolframAlpha positions itself as computational knowledge engine(translation: knowledge base and set of computational algorithms).

Thanks to all of the above, Siri manages to understand a person’s speech and his questions, which he asks in a fairly free form, and not specific commands. At the presentation, the following question was given as an example: “ Should I take an umbrella today?». Siri analyzes the question and understands what she needs to answer - what weather is expected in this area.

Of course, Siri is not yet perfect, but the very fact that such a solution has appeared in mobile phones cannot but speak of the promising future of speech recognition technology and computer voice assistants.

And finally, I suggest you look at a small selection.

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