Apple’s native virtual assistant Siri is said to be the centerpiece of the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy that could be unveiled during a keynote session at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday. It was previously said that the focus of Siri will be to make it smarter and more efficient at solving complex tasks. Now, a report has highlighted all the new AI features the virtual assistant could get. In fact, Siri could control several original Apple applications and take actions based on the user’s verbal commands.
Siri will get new AI capabilities
According to a report by AppleInsider, one of the main areas of focus for the Cupertino-based tech giant is getting Siri to understand commands the way people normally speak. Citing people familiar with Apple’s AI initiative, the report claims that the virtual assistant is being trained on a variety of non-direct queries that rely on contextual understanding. For example, instead of asking Siri to “show pictures of my dog,” saying something like “I’m feeling nostalgic” or “I want to make a blog” will also prompt her to show pictures and ask for further instructions.
However, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the full list of AI features, according to the publication. Several native Apple apps will also be upgraded to allow Siri to perform various tasks within them. According to the report, those apps will be Books, Calendar, Camera, Contacts, Files, Freeform, Generative Playground (internal), Keynote, Mail, Magnifier, News, Notes, Photos, Reminders, Safari, Shares, System Preferences, and Voice Reminder.
Siri AI features in Apple Books
With the AI upgrade, Siri will reportedly be able to perform several new tasks within the Books app. A virtual assistant is said to be able to open a specific book or section of it with just a voice command. It can also open “Book I last read”, change book topics, turn pages, pause audiobooks and more. Users will also reportedly be able to search specific categories in the Book Store and display ready-made books, downloaded books, and PDFs when prompted.
Siri’s AI features in the Camera and Mail apps
Using the Camera app could also be easier with Siri’s reported new AI capabilities. Assistant could change photo modes, add a timer, and even switch to the front or rear camera. It’s not clear if it can also click an image when prompted, which can help users click a group photo.
Last week, a report noted that Siri could get a smart replies feature that will allow users to quickly reply to emails. Additionally, the new report claims that Siri will also be able to schedule email replies, forward emails, unsend, save and delete email drafts, block email senders, mark emails as spam, unsubscribe from newsletters, digest email or thread, as well as mute and delete email.
Siri’s AI features in Keynote and Photos
The Keynote app is the main presentation platform for many Apple device users. With improvements to Siri, users will reportedly be able to automate certain tasks. The virtual assistant is said to be able to add images, image galleries, audio, video, text boxes or comments to slides with simple voice instructions.
Siri is also said to display a specific slide, add a topic to a new presentation, create slides, play and stop a presentation, display Activity Stream, add videos from YouTube, as well as manage various text formatting options.
As for the Photos app, the report claims that Siri will be able to open photos that include specific people or pets, search for objects in photos, add photos to albums, duplicate, rotate and move photos, hide specific photos, open and create new memories, apply filters, open photos and videos in editing mode and more.
Additionally, earlier reports also noted that Siri could offer transcriptions of notes in the Notes app, set reminders in the Reminders app, and read and summarize articles in the Safari browser. Namely, these features were not announced by Apple, and whether they will be added to Apple’s virtual assistant will be known only at WWDC 2024.
