why does siri only work if i have internet connection?

veda28 wrote:

An iPhone is more than capable of recognizing my voice and understanding the content without the internet.

Yes simple verb -> object as in voice command (a fixed list of things that are allowed to execute)

Obviously Siri will need an internet connection to find local business numbers or find the weather forcast etc but the debate here, is why does it need to be connected to perform completely internal tasks, like setting calender events or even just writing text?

The intelligent (brain) is on the server via Internet.

Some people have proposed that the reason apple have elected to make this software require connectivity for all situations is in the design and architecture, someone mentioned object paradigm, someone else mentioned it may be an incentive to maintain a phone contract. These are all good points and the answer may well be a combination of them all.

That's right.

I propose that it may also have something to do with data collection. Think about it, if Siri connects to the Apple server for every question that people around the world ask it, the second we ask it, how much would that information be worth to advertisers and corporations? The information could also be used to create better products in the future and to enslave the human race (probably not the last one though).

I think you've mistaken Apple for Google.

See this limk.

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2012/06/apple-wins-surprising-anti-b ig-brother-surveillance-patent.html

To your last sentence, I totally agreed.

ckuan wrote:

The intelligent (brain) is on the server via Internet.

*Sigh* Yes, we have estabished that Siri connects to the "intelligent (brain)", as you so eloquently put it, on the server... but what I've been saying this whole time is - it does not need any intelligent (brain), mystical voodoo or magical powers to recognize my speech and complete a basic task, like writing notes, leaving reminders or scheduling events. The iPhone is more than capable of doing these things on it's own, without the server and without the internet, as evidenced by the fact that my old *** iPod Touch can complete basic voice control commands (btw so could my Windows XP computer 10 years ago).

Apple could have designed Siri to work without a connection to the server when an internet connect is unnavailable, but they didn't. So it seems my question still remains unanswered and that Apple's choice to make Siri require the internet in order to contact it's magical servers (which btw need to be upgraded because they can't handle the traffic) for every single function shall remain an illusive mystery.

siri cannot work offline, but dication can. So it can still type stuff out etc...

it also sends the speech audio packets to the guzzoni.apple.com server to get analyzed.

Dictation doesn't work on my iPhone 4S when it's in flight mode. Is there some setting or something that I need to change to make it work?

i acctually take that back about dictation. I thought i once used it in a store. I guess they had free wifi. my bad.

i just read as i stated before that the speech recognition siri uses is done trhough a sever. Thats the answer i guessed, and i just read about.

I think you've mistaken Apple for Google.

I agree that Apple is definitely not Google, that doesn't mean that the information gathered from Siri isn't worth a lot of money.

Even IBM is suspicious ---> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2150579/IBM-bans-Siri-fears-iPhon e-personal-assistant-send-confidential-data-Apple-HQ.html

I agree that Apple is definitely not Google, that's doesn't mean that the information gathered from Siri isn't worth a lot of money.

I don't mind Apple has my info, since I'm a Apple's customer and if they can build sometime I like, I would certainly buy it. At least they are not selling my info.

Even IBM is suspicious ---> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2150579/IBM-bans-Siri-fears-iPhon e-personal-assistant-send-confidential-data-Apple-HQ.html

That's how you prevent competition creeping in. IBM is just scared, not proven.

dan122334455 wrote:

siri cannot work offline, but dication can. So it can still type stuff out etc...

No, speech to text also requires an internet connection.

yea, i realized that. I posted about my mistake after i wrote about it.

Wow. "But what many Apple users might not realise is that the handy application beams every single thing they say to it back to the company's servers."

Every phonecall I make goes through British Telecom's equipment. As is every fax. Everything I put on iCloud goes onto Apple's servers. Everything I store in Dropbox is stored in Dropbox's servers. Everything I put in SkyDrive is put into Microsoft's servers. Etc, etc, etc...... Welcome to the world.

Yeah, but Skynet sees it ALL! 😉

veda28 wrote:

*Sigh* Yes, we have estabished that Siri connects to the "intelligent (brain)", as you so eloquently put it, on the server... but what I've been saying this whole time is - it does not need any intelligent (brain), mystical voodoo or magical powers to recognize my speech and complete a basic task, like writing notes, leaving reminders or scheduling events. The iPhone is more than capable of doing these things on it's own, without the server and without the internet,

It's so gratifying to know that you are far more knowledgeable about the current state-of-the-art of speaker independent voice recognition and natural language processing than the people who work with it for a living every day (like me).

veda28 wrote:

I propose that it may also have something to do with data collection. Think about it, if Siri connects to the Apple server for every question that people around the world ask it, the second we ask it, how much would that information be worth to advertisers and corporations? The information could also be used to create better products in the future and to enslave the human race (probably not the last one though).

They made this design choice because an iPhone is not powerful enough to perform speaker independent voice recognition and natural language processing. But you are right about data collection, although for the wrong reason (or maybe only partly the wrong) reason. Voice recognition is REALLY hard, if you want the computer not only to parse the spoken word correctly, but also understand it. So Nuance (who provide the servers used by Siri) have been collecting voice samples for analysis for years. When Siri or Dragon Dictation (also a Nuance product) makes a mistake and you correct it that correction goes back to the servers and ultimately improves the recognition in the future. In addition to just collecting voice samples, Nuance collects questions. So if 1,000 people ask they same question after the first few they will have the answer cached, providing faster response. And when the server can't find the answer human beings get notified so the answer can be found for the future.

So in a way Siri is Apple's (and Nuance's) experiment to improve voice recognition and natural language processing by collecting data from millions of users.

Google also has some speech enabled products, BTW, for the same reason. To collect voice and content samples. And so does Microsoft.

Of course, once they know what questions people ask that is useful for marketing purposes also.