‘Hey Siri, Hi Bixby’: Apple and Samsung to make their voice assistants smarter using AI

Siri and Bixby, voice assistants by Apple and Samsung respectively, are going to get smarter with an infusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Since the emergence of generative AI, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, several phone makers are rushing to better incorporate AI into their devices. Until now, most voice assistants have been less conversational and have relied on users asking questions and getting answers. But this might change with the AI upgrade of both Siri and Bixby.

Siri to get smarter

A research paper published by Cornell University has revealed a Multimodal Large Language Model (MLLM) that explains how the current version of Siri has shortcomings.

Watch: CES 2024: AI Technology dominates at annual tech extravaganza in Las Vegas

Now, Ferret UI, launched in October last year, is being developed to let Siri understand how apps work in a phone.  The MLLM, as per the paper, is also likely to have "referring, grounding, and reasoning capabilities."

The new language model will be able to understand and interact with app interfaces. Owing to the model, Siri might be able to get a lot smarter. Talking about Ferret, it is an open-source, multimodal large language model that was jointly released by Apple and Cornell University.

Samsung to upgrade Bixby

Last week, CNBC quoted a top Samsung executive as saying that the South Korean giant will add generative artificial intelligence technology to its voice assistant Bixby.

Bixby, launched in 2017, currently offers a number of functions, including live translations or restaurant recommendations. But after the update, it will become more conversational.

Also read: Tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson stuns with dramatic aging reversal pics

The company is already working on upgrading its mobiles with AI. For instance, a new feature lets users circle something on their screens and search for it on Google.

“So Bixby has been a key voice assistant for Samsung not just for the mobile devices, but also for TVs and digital appliances that exist in Samsung’s ecosystem. So it has been the core voice assistant so far,” said Won-joon Choi, executive vice president at Samsung’s mobile business.

The executive didn’t give a timeline as to when the upgraded version will be rolled out but stressed that the company was “working so hard” to deliver it.

(With inputs from agencies)