THE EXTENSION

Exploring topics beyond our day-to-day coverage.

Can Apple Intelligence Fulfill the Promise of Workflow?

• John

As we wait for Siri to gain the features promised last June by Apple, I thought it would be worthwhile to look further into the future. I’ve been thinking beyond Siri in part because I’m skeptical that Apple will be able to pull off what was shown off last year. The technical challenge alone is immense and will require a massive leap forward in Siri’s capabilities that is far beyond any past update in my memory. But the challenge runs deeper to something that may be even more difficult to solve, which is the fact that Siri just hasn’t been very good for years. People have formed habits. They know they can get the weather, set a timer, or turn on the lights with Siri, but I’d wager that most people don’t do much more than that. I sure don’t.

We should know later this year whether Apple can pull off its plans for Siri, but I think it’s worth considering what could be next for Apple Intelligence. On this week’s episode of AppStories, I mentioned that I expect AI to fade into the background of products the same way APIs do for regular users. AI, whether it’s been branded like Apple Intelligence or not, is really a feature that can play different roles in different contexts.