Steve Jobs on Siri: Acquired for Artificial Intelligence Technology, Not Search
During tonight's All Things D Interview with Steve Jobs, Walt Mossberg asked about Apple's intentions of getting into the search space and possibly competing with Google.
Jobs was insistent that they aren't going to search and that the Siri acquisition had nothing to do with search:
Jobs was insistent that they aren't going to search and that the Siri acquisition had nothing to do with search:
Steve: [Siri is] not a search company. They're an AI company. We have no plans to go into the search business. We don't care about it -- other people do it well.
We profiled Siri when it was acquired by Apple. Siri was focused on personal assistant technology that serves to help users accomplish tasks.Virtual Personal Assistants (VPAs) represent the next generation interaction paradigm for the Internet. In today's paradigm, we follow links on search results. With a VPA, we interact by having a conversation. We tell the assistant what we want to do, and it applies multiple services and information sources to help accomplish our task. Like a real assistant, a VPA is personal; it uses information about an individual's preferences and interaction history to help solve specific tasks, and it gets better with experience.
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26 months ago
I bet it has to do with improving search in the App Store and in iTMS.
26 months ago
26 months ago
:rolleyes:
Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
Dave Bowman: What's the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave Bowman: I don't know what you're talking about, HAL.
HAL: I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave Bowman: Where the hell'd you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
Dave Bowman: Alright, HAL. I'll go in through the emergency airlock.
HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave, you're going to find that rather difficult.
Dave Bowman: HAL, I won't argue with you anymore. Open the doors.
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.
Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
Dave Bowman: What's the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave Bowman: I don't know what you're talking about, HAL.
HAL: I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave Bowman: Where the hell'd you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
Dave Bowman: Alright, HAL. I'll go in through the emergency airlock.
HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave, you're going to find that rather difficult.
Dave Bowman: HAL, I won't argue with you anymore. Open the doors.
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.
26 months ago
I agree, spotlight and app store search function, with hundreds of thousands of apps its getting harder to find things
26 months ago
Interpretation, when compared to Jobs' previous statements regarding what thy will "not" be doing in the future, and then, well, kind of end up doing:
Apple has no interest in entering the search market AS IT EXISTS TODAY, that is, enter a search phrase, via text, and get back probably thousands if not hundreds of thousands of pages, and maybe the first page has the result you were looking for, and then you have to click around a bit, etc. etc. to actually DO what you wanted to do in the first place.
What Apple will do:
Ask your iPhone to do something, and it DOES IT.
This starts to go back to an older notion of the "intelligent agent" that used to be big int he very early days of the Web.
Based on what I've seen of Siri, with Apple's resources, this could be VERY big.
Apple has no interest in entering the search market AS IT EXISTS TODAY, that is, enter a search phrase, via text, and get back probably thousands if not hundreds of thousands of pages, and maybe the first page has the result you were looking for, and then you have to click around a bit, etc. etc. to actually DO what you wanted to do in the first place.
What Apple will do:
Ask your iPhone to do something, and it DOES IT.
This starts to go back to an older notion of the "intelligent agent" that used to be big int he very early days of the Web.
Based on what I've seen of Siri, with Apple's resources, this could be VERY big.
26 months ago
It would be great if SIRI was going to lead to new voice commands where you could just launch an App by speaking it's name.
Or even speaking the name of an incoming caller while the phone was ringing :cool:
Or even speaking the name of an incoming caller while the phone was ringing :cool:
26 months ago
Sent him an idea several months ago which would integrate this type of technology quite nicely. Maybe I should tell Google about it too... ;)
26 months ago
Today's search is unintelligent. Apple bought the tech not for a search engine but for a intelligent agent that can assist in organizing your life. It'll not just send you reminders about events but tell you how to handle the events. One good application for this would be bill payment. When bills come due the agent could make the electronic pay, update your financial records, and notify you when you are low on funds. It can also prioritize which bills are most important. You thought augmented reality was cool. Wait till Apple releases this. :cool:
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