Siri Stumbles: Apple's Virtual Assistant Still Can't Answer Basic Questions

Apple's Siri Struggles with Basic Questions Apple has delayed the release of a new, more personalized Siri that was announced at WWDC 2024. Despite this, the current version of Siri continues to struggle with basic questions, such as 'what month is it?' According to a Reddit post and verified by John Gruber of Daring Fireball, Siri responds with 'Sorry, I don’t understand.' Further testing revealed that Siri incorrectly states 'Saturday, March 1, 2025' when asked for the current month.

Comparisons with Other AI Assistants

Other AI assistants like Gemini and ChatGPT correctly answer these simple questions. This discrepancy highlights Siri's ongoing issues despite Apple's initial promise in 2011 to create a more natural interaction between users and their devices. The company had demonstrated advanced features for the new Siri, including personal context and on-screen content detection, but so far, only a new animation has been released.

Calls for Improvement

There is growing frustration with Apple's lack of progress on Siri, especially given the promises made since 2011. John Gruber has criticized Apple for what he calls 'rotten' behavior regarding Siri vaporware. The article concludes by suggesting that Apple needs to refocus and deliver on its promises, similar to how it did with the Snow Leopard update in the past.