Siri Gets More Human with Voice Translation and a New Voice
Apple is looking to make Siri a more capable and human-like voice assistant. At WWDC 2017, the company revealed a new voice for Siri, featuring both male and female intonations that are more natural and clear. Additionally, Siri is getting a new skill: voice translation. Users can now ask Siri how to say a phrase in various languages, including Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. This feature expands Siri’s usefulness for international communication.
Siri is also becoming more adept at handling complex questions and follow-up requests. This enhancement brings Siri closer to the capabilities of Google Assistant, which has long been known for its ability to handle multi-layered queries.
Apple is also pushing Siri beyond the traditional realm of a voice assistant. In iMessages, Siri now exhibits contextual awareness, suggesting a user’s current location when asked “where are you?”. This demonstrates Apple’s vision of Siri evolving into a more general AI that integrates seamlessly with the iOS ecosystem.
While Apple has not yet fully released these updates, they aim to make Siri a more robust and user-friendly voice assistant, capable of tackling more complex tasks and offering a more natural experience.
