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Is Siri Smarter Than Google?
storagedude writes "Google could go the way of the dodo if ultra intelligent electronic agents (UIEA) make their way into the mainstream, according to technology prognosticator Daniel Burrus. Siri is just the first example of how a UIEA could end search as we know it. By leveraging the cloud and supercomputing capabilities, Siri uses natural language search to circumvent the entire Google process. If Burrus is right, we'll no longer have to wade through '30,000,000 returns in .0013 milliseconds' of irrelevant search results."
Whenever I ask Siri a question, she always refers me to a google search.
f u cn rd ths u cn gt a gd jb n cmptr prgmng
This assumes voice recognition becomes leaps and bounds better than it is right now. I've cursed at Siri more than I've asked it questions. Maybe it's my Midwest accent.
Can we mark the OP as flamebait?
So he's saying that if we perfect assistants to the point where they'll be able to answer our questions directly, we won't have to go look for the answers ourselves?
No shit, Sherlock.
...on the sort of basic questions Siri's capable of answering, something went horribly wrong with your query.
This is a non-story. Next.
Somewhere behind Siri are search engines, and will remain search engines.
The only thing that's unique about Siri is that the search engine companies can't put their ads in there.
Bruce Perens.
You mean "bullshit artist" right?
I don't follow much of the esoteric details (and don't give a yayhoo about speed) but when I enter a term in a search engine, i.e. "RF video combiners," I'd like some return of technical documents and (what would be really nice) individual techies with their own webpage showing how to implement and what pitfalls to avoid. Instead I get a bunch of sales/marketing aggregates, tech discussions that are really disguised sales/marketing crap, ebay listings, go-get-bids, sorority-sluts, etc.
mfwright@batnet.com
If Burrus is right, we'll no longer have to wade through '30,000,000 returns in .0013 milliseconds' of irrelevant search results.
Hmm... If that's your experience, then your search query is way off. Learn to ask better questions. Siri won't help if you're an idiot.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
I've heard complaints that Suri is getting dumber over time. That for some people it used to return the results that they wanted, but now that it is building up its database of what (I'm guessing) a majority of people mean when they ask a question, that at least a minority of users no longer get the results they used to receive for the same query. If Suri gets overwhelmed by queries that can be considered in pop-culture terms to mean something other than their strict meanings, she could quickly become both useless and frustrating.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
No.
Posterity, my posterior.
Didn't even Wozniak say that Siri isn't as good as the advertisements?
Steve quoted on various news sites:
I have a lower success rate with Siri than I do with the voice built into the Android, and that bothers me. I’ll be saying, over and over again in my car, ‘Call the Lark Creek Steak House,’ and I can’t get it done. Then I pick up my Android, say the same thing, and it’s done. [...] On the 4S I can only do that when Siri can connect over the Internet. But many times it can’t connect. I’ve never had Android come back and say, ‘I can’t connect over the Internet. [...] Plus I get navigation. Android is way ahead on that.
Good is never enough, when you dream of being great!
If I want to know something, I just have to ask my ex. She knows everything.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Siri will replace Google in the same way keyboards have replaced computers. Siri is an interface to search, not a replacement for it.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Depends on what you ask. But that's a good point.
Siri "circumvents" Google search for certain things. "Find me a seafood restaurant" will go to Yelp, which has reviews and such. "How many grams in an ounce" will go to Wolfram-Alpha. Otherwise, it sticks it in a query and ships it off to Google.
Needless to say, Google isn't sitting still. "Find me a seafood restaurant" in Google will also provide me a list of local restaurants with reviews, much like Yelp does. Arguably, Google's ratings may be better because they are collected from a broad spectrum of sources (user reviews from various review sites, individual bloggers, professional reviews) versus whoever Apple decided to sign a deal with. Speaking of which, you have to consider what kind of deals are being done in the background. Woz recently pointed out something I found a bit disturbing:
So where Siri used to give answers, Siri now gives advertising.
A couple of months back my family and I were having a debate whether falling thirty feet would break your legs or kill you, so we asked Siri. She responded back with a list of buildings we could jump off in our area over thirty feet high.
I'm all for scientific tests... but ouch.
The difference between Siri and what this author is referencing as "Google" is query entry by voice or query entry by keyboard.
There is a far more important difference. Google is not getting the opportunity to display the search results, Apple is filtering and doing the presentation, so Google is not getting a chance to display ads.
... they are just vehicles to deliver targeted ads. Google is a targeted advertising company and filters like Siri threaten their core business.
This is *critical* because ads are Google's lifeblood. Search, email, social, etc