In the space of one week, we have seen the transformation of our expectations for the new Siri. Instead of having to wait for Apple to catch up with OpenAI and Google, we now need only to wait for the company to tweak the existing Gemini models.
While that is indeed a dramatic turnaround, we still shouldn’t expect overnight miracles from the new Siri whenever it does now launch …
From vaporware to a product we can see
Last year, one of Apple’s most upbeat commenters, John Gruber, described the new Siri as “vaporware.”
Referring to Apple advertising Siri features which don’t yet exist, he noted: “There were no demonstrations of any of that. Those features were all at level 0 on my [4-point] hierarchy. That level is called vaporware. They were features Apple said existed, which they claimed would be shipping in the next year, and which they portrayed, to great effect [but] was either unwilling or unable to demonstrate […] even with Apple product marketing reps performing the demos from a prepared script using prepared devices.”
Things shifted dramatically on Monday when Apple confirmed a report that it had partnered with Google to use the company’s Gemini models on its own servers. It’s generally considered that Google has at least caught up with OpenAI, and in many respects Gemini outperforms ChatGPT.
Just two days later, there was another big development. Google not only showed off its new Gemini Personal Intelligence features, but also launched them in beta form. That would put it at level three on Gruber’s scale: a beta product that people can try in the real world.
Gemini Personal Intelligence previews the new Siri
As we noted yesterday, this effectively provides a preview of exactly what we can expect from the new Siri.
Personal Intelligence can retrieve specific details from text, photos, or videos in your Google apps to customize Gemini responses. This includes Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, etc), Google Photos, your YouTube watch history, and of all of the various Google search services you’ve used (Search, Shopping, News, Maps, Google Flights, and Hotels). The Apple version will of course pull information from Apple apps like Mail, Calendar, Photos, and Notes.
... continue reading