[shagie]

Apples devices are smarter. This makes them cost more for the "same" hardware, but costs less for the computation.

Apple isn't trying to make money with Siri. It's using Siri to make its ecosystem of Apple Music and similar more valuable to its customers.

The limits that Apple puts on what it can do makes that cloud side computation less expensive.

---

Consider that bit - less expensive. Apple doesn't run its own cloud in the way that Google, Amazon, or Microsoft do. So what does Alexa cost? It costs for AWS cloud time. That's the expense that it's running. Those skills that people use run on AWS compute time rather than a phone's local cpu and battery.

A google search "costs" about 1 KJ of energy. Alexa has similar costs somewhere just for energy and other costs for the maintenance of the additional software and content. It costs something to maintain that joke database.

[GekkePrutser]

I don't think Apple is smarter. Siri is really basic.

I can't even say "Turn on the lights and the fan". I have to present it all in bite-sized chunks. Come on how hard is that.

I have a feeling there is no AI in these supposedly intelligent assistants. Only scripted stuff.

[shagie]

There is more processing done in the Siri local device than there is in the Alexa local device.

It's not "Siri is smarter" but rather "Apple is working on minimizing cloud costs because it is entirely a cost for them."

Siri is scripted and limited to make it locally "smarter".

With Amazon and Alexa, everything goes to AWS because that's where the entirety of Alexa's processing happens. The hardware devices in the homes are "dumb" terminals for AWS with a voice interface. This allows Amazon to make use of AWS as much as it can and do something with "surplus" computing power that it has available on AWS.

[dilek]

Amazon has been working on on-device voice for a while. Actually everyone is trying to do that. Running large speech models in the cloud is expensive, considering the number of devices, they probably need more than "surplus" :)

https://www.amazon.science/blog/on-device-speech-processing-...

[shagie]

It could certainly rack up a big bill.

This is also part of the work that Apple has done (and is likely part of the making Siri cost less for cloud compute).

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/use-siri-offline-ios/

> In iOS 15, Apple moved all Siri speech processing and personalization onto your device, making the virtual assistant more secure and faster at processing requests. This also means Siri can now handle a range of requests entirely offline.

> Once you're using iOS 15, you don't need to enable anything for Siri to work offline. The types of requests that it can handle without phoning home to Apple's servers include the following:

    Create and disable timers and alarms.
    Launch apps.
    Control Apple Music and Podcasts audio playback.
    Control system settings including accessibility features, volume, Low Power mode, Airplane mode, and so on.

[dilek]

I didnt disclose as I was not gonna promote anything, but I work for a startup specializing in on-device voice recognition. I am 100% biased towards on-device voice processing :)

i just wanted to share my 2 cents, as it's not unique to Apple and the cloud can be costly even if you own it. Big tech has been investing in on-device for a while. besides voice commands, apple and google do transcription locally too. because now you can have local speech to text with cloud level accuracy and of all the reasons you shared - cost, privacy, latency etc. (but again, i'm biased)

https://www.androidauthority.com/voice-typing-opinion-322134... https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/17/apple-adds-live-captions-t...

[GekkePrutser]

Interesting! Is that also the case for the homepod (and homepod mini which I have)?

[vineyardmike]

There is no AI beyond run of the mill NLU/ML stuff. It’s just trying to guess intent based on your query.

“What’s it like outside right now?” => GetWeatherIntent arguments=[time=current location=device_location]

There’s no Omni intelligent being making API calls anywhere. It’s NLU with a decision tree(s) based on the intent and arguments

[dljsjr]

I don't know if it's device specific but I use "Hey Siri, turn on the overhead lights and the floor lamp" for example all the time. I have a HomePod though.

[GekkePrutser]

Weird, I have a homepod (mini) also. In fact I hardly have any Apple stuff anymore, I only got homepods because it was the most privacy-friendly option out of the big three. I just have an iPad from work which I used to set them up. And most of my automation goes through Home Assistant anyway.

When I give a double command Siri literally tells me she can't do two things at the same time and I have to present them as two separate commands.

Perhaps it's because I have it set to UK English? Perhaps it's smarter in US English. I'll have to try that.

[vineyardmike]

> Perhaps it's smarter in US English. I'll have to try that.

Most companies treat you know English as European, and European customers as second in line for new features after America.

Or more specifically, treat American English first for voice control stuff.