Rather than Notes I use Reminders for a shopping list. There they are always check boxes, and ticking one off makes it disappear. It works well with regular Siri too
Great column, great list, but I don't know what you mean by, this AI is ethical. Did Apple build their AI in a drastically different way than everyone else?
Yep! As I noted above, Apple’s AI puts nobody out of work, can’t be used to mislead (with deepfakes), and its data centers have run on 100 percent clean power since 2014!
David, great article. Have you noticed that it also will ask you "what you meant" sometimes, offering alternatives between two interpretations of what you said? I found that stunning the first time it happened.
Thanks, will give this a thorough look! I still aim to use Siri AI only as assistive AI, when practical, vs. generating images or text. Not just to minimize server usage (however minimal, those pings add up), but to fight brainrot (as a fellow writer, I take extreme care with my words and the mental processes of composition).
Apple should allow simple personalization, like the ability to "remember" things as other AI chats do. While Apple values simplicity, personalization makes it much more useful.
Agreed! In the meantime, here's a cool tip: create a Note that's full of information about yourself and your life that you'd like Siri to know about. That way, it'll know that kind of thing when it's relevant to your queries...
Sadly, the one I'd like is "get me the quickest, cheapest ride share home" but it totally failed hard on that. It just found historical Lyft and Uber receipts. "Get me the best ride per dollar" is probably difficult to make it understand?
Or "what's the cheapest ride to the airport" which… it correctly identified as the very slow train, but ultimately not too useful. Maybe this is something that can be done through a shortcut though.
So great! I will share it in my newsletter formacusers.com !
Rather than Notes I use Reminders for a shopping list. There they are always check boxes, and ticking one off makes it disappear. It works well with regular Siri too
Great column, great list, but I don't know what you mean by, this AI is ethical. Did Apple build their AI in a drastically different way than everyone else?
Yep! As I noted above, Apple’s AI puts nobody out of work, can’t be used to mislead (with deepfakes), and its data centers have run on 100 percent clean power since 2014!
I got that (I actually read it), but is that all there is to AI being ethical?
I described it at the very beginning of the article: here you go!
https://pogueman.substack.com/p/125-tests-of-the-new-ai-siri?selection=284feead-2be2-4972-9cdc-5f5097d30bc9&r=62ujui&utm_medium=ios
Can you explain more about how Apple’s AI is ethical? What are they doing different from other AI?
David, great article. Have you noticed that it also will ask you "what you meant" sometimes, offering alternatives between two interpretations of what you said? I found that stunning the first time it happened.
Yes! Pretty amazing!
Is there solid documentation that this is
“ethical” AI? I love the new Siri, but am concerned about, well, burning the planet. Thanks David!
Yes, Apple's data centers have been run on 100% renewable electricity since 2014.
https://enkiai.com/data-centers/ai-data-center-energy-2026-apples-high-stakes-pivot/
Thanks, will give this a thorough look! I still aim to use Siri AI only as assistive AI, when practical, vs. generating images or text. Not just to minimize server usage (however minimal, those pings add up), but to fight brainrot (as a fellow writer, I take extreme care with my words and the mental processes of composition).
To get Health App to work with Siri you must go to Health app in settings and turn the Siri switch on. Siri—>Data Access & Devices—>Siri
Yes, that's already turned on. Still doesn't work for me...
Thank you, David, this was genuinely useful.
This is both exhilarating and terrifying. 😬
Apple should allow simple personalization, like the ability to "remember" things as other AI chats do. While Apple values simplicity, personalization makes it much more useful.
Agreed! In the meantime, here's a cool tip: create a Note that's full of information about yourself and your life that you'd like Siri to know about. That way, it'll know that kind of thing when it's relevant to your queries...
Hah. Brilliant!!! Thank you.
I don't suppose there's an android/Samsung version
Why would you need Siri AI on an Android/Samsung phone? Those phones already run a much better Gemini AI model
Thanks, I didn't realize that! I'll work on figuring out how it works.
I keep reading “it’s a phone charger”… 🤪
Might finally be the beginnings of Apple’s “The Knowledge Navigator.”
What are the best settings in “settings” in terms of permissions for all the apps and applications to make this thing work optimally?
As far as I know, all you have to do is turn on Settings > Siri > Try Siri AI (Beta)!
Thank you, I was looking for specific permissions in setting for allowing/not allowing your stack to run through all of your Siri inquiries
Do you mean apps Siri can work with? In the settings -> Siri -> App Access - you can turn/off the apps that Siri can retrieve information
Thank you, yes that’s what I’m figuring out- eg avoid access passwords…
Sadly, the one I'd like is "get me the quickest, cheapest ride share home" but it totally failed hard on that. It just found historical Lyft and Uber receipts. "Get me the best ride per dollar" is probably difficult to make it understand?
Or "what's the cheapest ride to the airport" which… it correctly identified as the very slow train, but ultimately not too useful. Maybe this is something that can be done through a shortcut though.