Having updated my Mac to macOS Golden Gate 27.0, I was curious to see what Apple AI could deliver, and especially the promise of a stronger Siri AI available as a standalone app.
I’ve lambasted Siri in the past for not understanding, not being able to handle even the simplest of requests, but Siri AI (as an opt-in beta version) suddenly makes sense and is much more powerful than expected, albeit with a few minor issues.
Better email management
The default Siri app is terrible at handling email. I asked him to list important emails, but he only suggested one email from 2011 with the word “important” in the subject line. Hardly what I wanted.
I get much better results when I connect ChatGPT to my Exchange account. I asked the same question about some important emails I missed, including a recent bill I had to pay.
However, after updating to the beta Siri AI, things got a lot better. This gives you a dedicated chat window application, not unlike ChatGPT for macOS, where you can start different conversations. But Siri is also woven into Spotlight search.
I tried again and asked for important emails and this time I got relevant results from all my email accounts. And the benefit of Siri AI is that it provides links to emails in my Apple Mail account so I can open them; ChatGPT can list emails, but it doesn’t give you the option to open them, so you have to open the email app and find the email.
Siri AI can also perform bulk tasks. I asked you to find each newsletter/marketing email and mark it as read. This clears my emails quickly and makes it easier to manage what’s left.
Intelligence should be available where you need it
Siri AI is clearly very capable, but I think it should be available when and where you need it. For example, my old school is having a Macmillan Coffee Morning on September 25th from 10:30 to 11:15.
When I open the email, the Mail app highlights the dates and times so you can easily click them to create a calendar event. However, due to the way the e-mail is written, the date of the event is written in a separate sentence from the time.
Because of this, the two items are highlighted separately, so you can choose to create a calendar event for the right time but the wrong date, or the right date but the wrong time.
The Summary function automatically compiles the information, but does not make it a reference to create the event.
But I asked the Siri AI when the coffee in the morning showed the correct information, and then I asked for a calendar entry, which was created correctly. That’s smart, but this option needs to be available through the email app where I need it.
Automation needs to be worked on
Siri AI claims to be able to create home automations, but this has proven to be unreliable. I asked Siri AI to create an automation that turns off the lights in the office when the smart lock closes. He said he did and gave a link to the Home app which didn’t work.
No combination of typing made the automation work and I got an error message saying that the Nuki Smart Lock doesn’t support automation.
Siri AI is also terrible at handling multiple commands at once. I asked him to turn on the lights and unlock the Yale Linus smart lock. The lights came on, but the lock did not release. I told Siri I asked for two things, and that prompted her to open the door.
It’s clear that Siri AI understands the question, but it needs some development to respond to multi-step requests the way Alexa+ can.
Siri AI can’t always open apps
I have a spreadsheet that I use to manage household expenses, with one sheet per year. I was able to get Siri AI to find the right file with a simple search command, but it said it couldn’t open the file because it didn’t have an app associated with it, even though it did, and it was Excel. I asked it to open the file with Excel, but Siri AI can’t. It also couldn’t open a Finder window in the correct folder, it just provided the path to the file.
The general requests are better, but there is some lack of polish
Siri AI is much better at general tasks. For example, I asked him to look at the floor plan of a house and then tell me what I needed to know for a fire risk assessment of a vacation rental. Siri finds the right information online, figures out what’s on the floor plan, then highlights some areas that need to be inspected, while the AI recommends that a suitable fire risk assessor be employed.
The result isn’t as detailed as the paid version of ChatGPT, but Siri AI certainly handles the basics well.
By asking Siri AI to create a list of fire safety rules for guests using the kitchen, Siri AI comes up with the goods, but in a simple format. And Siri AI can’t export them to a PDF or Word document. Pay for ChatGPT and you can make the same requests and get a nicely formatted Word document with handy icons.
Siri AI is showing promising signs
Siri AI is still a big step up from the stupid old Siri, and its integration with Mac apps and services is a plus. The email management features certainly look like they can save a lot of time and help me pare down my email inbox to the important messages. There’s still work to be done on the Home app and the ability to open files in the right apps, but we’re in beta and the signs are looking promising.
