
Hey Siri. Tell Me About Your New ‘Humanlike’ Friend.
By Movieguide® Contributor
Apple’s Siri might be getting a new and even more powerful friend.
“Siri will remain as your personal digital assistant on devices such as the iPhone 16 and M-series Macs such as the imminent M4 Macs, and with the arrival of Apple Intelligence in the next versions of iOS, iPadOS and macOS, Siri should become considerably smarter and more responsive. But Apple is reportedly creating a second, separate digital personality. If this were a movie, Siri would be Wall-E and the new personality would be Eve,” T3 reported.
Apple is currently working on “another humanlike interface based on generative AI. It could run on the tabletop product and other future Apple robotics devices,” Bloomberg explained.
Though its robotics program is still in early stages, the tech giant has a test case in the works — a tabletop device codenamed J595.
It will bring together “a large, iPad-like display with cameras and a base that features a robotic actuator. That product likely will arrive around 2026 or 2027, followed by mobile robots and possibly even humanoid models in the next decade,” Bloomberg noted.
But don’t expect to see those robotics anytime soon. The new technology “is going to be incredibly expensive for both Apple to build and for consumers to buy.”
In the meantime, Apple’s iOS 18 update promises to make Siri even more powerful through the use of the tech giant’s new “personal intelligence system” called Apple Intelligence.
The software update will “allow Siri to analyze the activity on your phone while turning on Siri-controlled features automatically. You’ll only be able to use Siri to control features in apps made by Apple to start, but the company plans on supporting ‘hundreds’ of commands within its apps,” The Verge reported.
Apple Intelligence is “deeply integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. It harnesses the power of Apple silicon to understand and create language and images, take action across apps, and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook calls this “new chapter in Apple innovation” transformative.
“Our unique approach combines generative AI with a user’s personal context to deliver truly helpful intelligence,” he added. “And it can access that information in a completely private and secure way to help users do the things that matter most to them. This is AI as only Apple can deliver it, and we can’t wait for users to experience what it can do.”
But is more AI really the answer?
Movieguide® reported how AI does more harm than good in the classroom:
While more teachers in schools across the nation have begun using artificial intelligence in their classes, they are also warning against the potential pitfalls of the technology.
A recent survey of 1,020 teachers found that “18 percent of K–12 teachers reported using AI for teaching and another 15 percent have tried AI at least once.”
However, with the increased use of AI, teachers are beginning to see the harmful effects the technology is having on students.
“A quarter of public K-12 teachers say using AI tools in K-12 education does more harm than good,” a Pew Research study of 2,531 U.S. public school K-12 teachers found. “About a third (32%) say there is about an equal mix of benefit and harm, while only 6% say it does more good than harm. Another 35% say they aren’t sure.”