This weekend, I put Siri—the speech-recognition software for Apple's iPhone 4S—through its paces, testing out different commands, languages, accents, and even whether it could understand other computer-spoken dialogue.
Siri will be one of the first truly mass-market speech-recognition tools. Other companies have tried to get an application like this out for years, but Apple has more reach and persuasion power than most other software and consumer electronics companies. What's really important is Siri may be the first technology that helps to make all technology more universally accessible, by which I mean accessible to all people, regardless of any disabilities or limitations they may have, such as being visually impaired, suffering from tremors, or simply not being in a situation that allows them to interact with a touchscreen. I'm excited at the thought that technology might finally be designed in such a way as to be accessible to different kinds of people always, without it being tailored specifically for special needs groups. Nor do you have to be blind to appreciate voice-recognition. Maybe you're someone who retains information better when you hear and speak it rather than when you see and read it.
I saved 30 examples of my dialogue with Siri so you can get an idea of what it can and can't process.—Next: Siri in U.S. English >
Siri Passes in U.S. English
Here are some questions that Siri passed and failed when I spoke to it using U.S. English.
1. Flat Tire
Jill Duffy: I have a flat tire on my bike. Where can I get my tire fixed?
Siri: What kind of place are you looking for?
[On the screen, Siri displays two options: tire stores or towing services.]
JD: Bicycle shops.
Siri: I found 11 bicycle shops… nine of them are fairly close to you.
[Siri then provides on-screen list of bicycles shops that link to Google maps and business entries.]
2. Change an appointment.
JD: Change my calendar on November 30. The appointment will not be at 7 p.m. It will be at 1 p.m."
Siri: OK, I'll make that change to your appointment. [Pause] Are you ready for me to schedule it?
JD: Yes, please.
[Siri carries out the action successfully.]
Assessment: In U.S. English in the United States, Siri searches for businesses uses Safari and Yelp, and manages your calendar with some ease (although as you'll see next, I stumped it even within these parameters).
Siri Fails in U.S. English
3. Change an appointment.
JD: I want to change the time on an appointment on my calendar"
Siri: I'm not aware of any appointments about 'An appointment,' Jill.
Assessment: In this example, Siri couldn't figure out that the basic semantics of scheduling--that I had initiated a command but didn't yet give the full information. Siri did very well with most calendar requests, though. I found that the more information you tell Siri in one shot (run-on sentences are fine), the better it handles the scheduling request.
4. Book a reservation.
JD: Use OpenTable to make a restaurant reservation.
Siri: This restaurant matching 'Open Table' is a little ways from you.
[Siri pulls up the map and a business listing for Open Table Grill Bar, a restaurant 17 miles away.]
Assessment: If you ask Siri to use a specific app or website that isn't supported, Siri gets confused. It knows "restaurant" and it knows that other key words in the sentence probably refer to a business name.—Next: Siri in French, German, and U.K. English >
Siri Passes in French and German, spoken by Google Translate (computer-to-computer language), and human-spoken U.K. English
I tried speaking to Siri in French and German, but because I don't speak those languages well, Siri couldn't understand me. So I turned then to the spoken features of Google Translate.
I was very impressed that Siri could understand another computer. Sometimes, it would miss the first word, especially in French. For example, I tried "Où est la bibliothèque?" (Where is the library?) three or four times, and Siri always missed the "Où." But on the whole, Siri can understand Google Translate.
For fun, I also asked many questions and gave commands in my fake British accent; even though I'm American my flat BBC accent passed muster with Siri. The program understood me just fine. I cannot do a convincing Australian accent, so that's the only language setting I didn't test.
5. In French, What's the weather?
Google Translate: Quelle est la météo pour la semaine prochaine? (What will the weather be next week?)
Siri: Je ne peux pas consulter la météo plus de 5 jours à l'avance. Voici la météo entre aujourd'hui et jeudi: [Siri shows the five-day forecast on the screen.] (I can't check the weather more than five days in advance. Here is the forecast from now until Thursday.)
6. In German, What's the weather?
Google Translate: Wie is das Wetter? (How is the weather?)
Siri: Das Wetter wird (überwiegend), gut, Jill: [Siri shows the five-day forecast on the screen.] (The weather is, for the most part, good, Jill.)
7. In U.K. English, What's the weather?
JD: What's the weather?
Siri: Here's the weather for today through this Saturday. [Siri shows the five-day forecast on the screen.]
Assessment: Siri knows how to make small talk about the weather, in French, German, and U.K. English, but, as I show later, it can't do too much else in those languages.—Next: Language and App Limitations >
Siri's Language Limitations
8. U.K. English, request for coffee.
JD: Please find me a coffee shop in New York.
Siri: Sorry Jill, I can only look for businesses in the United States, and when you're using U.S. English.
[The "search the web" button appears.]
Assessment: Siri cannot search for businesses or use the Maps feature in any language setting except U.S. English, even when you're in the United States. If you have an Australian accent and you reside in the U.S., you have to put on your best John Wayne impression to use many of Siri's functions. And by default, when Siri parses your words correctly but can't figure out what you want to do, it offers a Web search.
Siri's App Shortcomings
9. Twitter.
JD: I want to post to Twitter.
Siri: I can't send Tweets for you, Jill. Sorry about that!
10. Facebook.
JD: Can I check Facebook?
Siri: Sorry, I couldn't find any places matching 'Facebook.'
JD: Read my Facebook app.
Siri: Sorry Jill, I can only read incoming text messages.
Assessment: Until other apps are supported, there will be plenty of things I typically do with my iPhone that Siri won't be able to help me with.—Next: Siri Isn't Self-Aware >
Siri Isn't Self-Aware
11. Ask Siri about its features and settings.
JD: Siri, what languages do you understand?
Siri: I don't know what you mean by 'Siri what languages do you understand.'
[The "search the Web" button appears.]
JD: Can I speak to Siri in German?
Siri: I don't see any places matching 'Siri.' Sorry about that.
Assessment: Here's where Siri really started to disappoint me. I thought it would have some awareness of its own features and functionality. I would love to see Apple work on making Siri more knowledgeable about itsself. It seems like a no-brainer that the first order of business for Siri as an assistant should be to help people use the app itself. I'd also love to see Siri get smarter about assisting you to manage the iPhone on which it is installed. I asked questions along these lines, such as "How much free space do I have on this phone?" and "What questions can I ask?" (see the slideshow). Siri's answers just didn't cut it.
With another speech-recognition technology, Ford's in-car system called Sync , you can always ask, "What can I say?" if you're not sure what kind of information it needs from you. For example, it uses a number of different categories to search for businesses, and if you know what they are, you can just say one. If you don't know, however, you need to learn what the options are.
12-20. Other questions that stumped Siri
Other questions that Siri failed to answer about its own functionality or the iPhone itself (the response was, "How about a web search for…" or an attempt to locate a business):
12. How can I switch the language setting in Siri? / How do I switch the language settings? / Can I change the language settings?
13. What apps can you open, Siri?
14. How does Siri work?
15. How much memory does this phone have?
16. How many photos do I have on my camera?
17. What questions can I ask Siri? / What questions can I ask? / What questions can I ask you, Siri? / What questions do you know the answer to?
18. How much free space do I have on this phone?
19. Check if there's new software for this phone?
20. When should I upgrade my phone?—Next: Siri's Sense of Humor >
Siri's Sense of Humor
If you have an iPhone 4S, try saying the following things to Siri. It's just for fun, and we won't give away the answers here, but it shows Siri has a sense of humor. (Thanks to the website This is My Next for some of these.
21-30. Other questions to ask Siri for fun
21. What is the meaning of life? (Try asking this one a few times. Siri has several different answers.)
22. Open the pod bay doors.
23. What's the best phone?
24. Where did I put my keys?
25. I have to go to the bathroom.
26. Take a photo.
27. I love you, Siri.
28. I need to hide a body.
29. Knock-knock…
30. Who's your daddy?
If you've found more questions to ask Siri that bring up funny responses, or if you identify something you'd like Siri to be able to do or answer that it can't now, post your thoughts in the comments.