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Woman Uses 'Hey Siri' To Call An Ambulance and Help Save Her Child's Life (networkworld.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Networkworld: When Apple released the iPhone 6s, it included a great new Siri feature which enables users to activate the intelligent assistant via voice. Dubbed 'Hey Siri,' the feature is particularly convenient because the iPhone 6s' M9 motion co-processor is 'always listening' and thereby lets users use 'Hey Siri' even when the device isn't connected to a power source. Recently, Stacey Gleeson of Australia used the 'Hey Siri' feature to successfully call an ambulance while she was tending to her daughter Giana who had stopped breathing. "I picked her up and sat down with her on the floor," Gleeson said in an interview. "And as I checked her airways, I looked over and remembered my phone." Thinking quick on her feet, Gleeson said, "Hey Siri, call the ambulance." Fortunately, Gleeson managed to resuscitate her daughter while the ambulance was in route. And while it's impossible to know for sure, it's entirely possible that the time Gleeson saved by not having to call an ambulance manually helped save her daughter's life. "Saving me the trouble of having to physically dial emergency services was a godsend," Gleeson said.
"the feature is particularly convenient because the iPhone 6s' M9 motion co-processor is 'always listening' and thereby lets users use 'Hey Siri' even when the device isn't connected to a power source."
Get this filth out of here. Next week we'll hear about the brave bystander who rescued a toddler from a burning building using an Apple product.
And why is the headline red anyway?
This is supposed to make us love how its always recording our conversations
2016's Lassie. Kid trapped at the bottom of the well. Leaves iPhone at the top and calls out "Hey Siri" ...
Masturbating Apple fanboys incoming!
Over just picking up the phone and calling 911.
"And while it's impossible to know for sure, it's entirely possible " my ass. It's a non-story. It's a piece of advertisement by Apple/NSA to make us think it's good they're devices are always recording our conversations.
This is proof that AI and the Singularity is here. Venture Capitalist firms need to invest NOW to get in on the ground floor. Also, we are going to be living on Mars in 10 years and on another star in 50!
To credit Apple with saving this girl's live is a HUGE stretch of the imagination. It shows a lot of balls for Apple to take credit for this when in reality the time it takes to unlock a phone and dial 911 on speaker is about 3 seconds.
So, we already have the FBI/NSA/CIA/etc using national security letters (or maybe even just plain requests) to get your location data from your cellphone because "you've shared" your location with a 3rd party (e.g. - Google maps). Therefore, that data is no longer "yours" and instead belongs to the business and is largely free to be shared with whomever else they want at their discretion.
How long before a similar logic is applied to your "always on" microphone tracking every word you say? I guess we'll just have to trust these giant corporations to protect the privacy of their users rather than comply with the desires of big government ......
Orwell was right about Big Brother but we've chosen to do it to ourselves (through our cellphones).
Turn on your microphones (which could potentially be used for mass surveillance) or let your children die... Is this an advertisement by Apple or the NSA?
Kudos to the mom for knowing how to save her child's life. This is important knowledge that every parent should possess and be able to put to use. Great job mom!
Oh, and she called for an ambulance with her phone.
"The ferrets, they're every where I tell you!"
Siri actually understood her request and did the right thing? That IS news!
But would she have done so in public?
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
Are you serious?? Do you really think saving three seconds to manually call 911 did any help at all???
This is propaganda marketing by Apple.
This was brilliant; I wonder why he posted as anonymous coward*; I want to give him credit.
*(Well, I can guess why-- he probably figured that half the moderators would rate this -1 incoherent and his Karma would drop to values you have to measure in Kelvin. Say, why doesn't slashdot have a moderation "-1 incoherent", anyway?)
Do you really think "they" would need you to turn the microphone on to listen to you if they want to listen to you? I mean, are you people actually thinking for moment before saying such things? If they want to use phones for audio mass surveillance they would be idiots to have to trick you into turning on the microphone first.
And then? "Damn, he tricked us by disabling Siri! What do we do now?!".
If you're carrying any connected device with a microphone, using voice recognition or not just does not make a trace of a difference anymore.
Extremely unlikely. The few seconds difference it might make is lost in the noise in all the factors that affect the response time. This rings as a bullshit justification of constant surveillance: "We're always watching out for you! Like a helpful older sibling."
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Did this lady not have hands? Because I could see how a lady without hands or arms using Siri to call for help would be newsworthy. Perhaps there was some other reason why she was incapacitated and could not simply dial '911'? Otherwise, what service has Siri provided here, other than saving a second and a half to unlock the phone and dial?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
opened the calendar to Friday and ordered some french fries.
Computer: Tea, Earlgrey, hot.
Oh. I know. Grabbing the phone, hitting the three numbers necessary to call your emergency service (which is admittedly easier on a real phone but on one that buries that "telephony-app" somewhere between the hundreds of inane apps nobody needs but you can't uninstall) and turn on speakerphone (again, something that's easier on a real phone), putting it down next to her daughter and listening to the emergency service while helping her daughter.
Nonstory coming your way, film at 11.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Of all the reasons to hate Apple, why hate it for that non-issue?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Valid question. There is an aspect of it learning your voice. But same with the "OK Google" on Androids and I've had the radio trigger that a couple times when what the DJ's said was similar enough in sound a pacing to trigger it.
I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
Great. Exactly what we needed. More stuff we can't talk about because someone's going to be "triggered"...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Someone used a phone! To make a call! Holy shit, you guys! I don't think you understand how important this is! Fuck off.
They already thought of that- part of the "hey siri" setup is training your voice. You have to say the trigger phrase 3 or 4 times to teach it your individual voice.
I guess it also helps with false positives with background noise.
Personally, I like to keep control over when the phone is listening and taking actions.
Thank you. I knew I could rely on someone remembering that on /.
If that was the emergency service number, yes, I could see how SIRI could be of any use. Then again, I would probably have stored it as "!!Emergency number" in the phone.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Hilarity ensues
Yeah... this is something new...
This article should have been about a mother using the Android voice assistant for this to have been taken as a heroic technology example. Of course, she would first have had to yell, "Launch antivirus!" and wait for the phone to be scanned to eliminate the possibility of that ambulance call going to a Nigerian scammer.
The iPhone is a walled garden, and that's the way I like it.
The potential for abuse is high, if that's all it takes. Just walk by someone with an iPhone 6 and yell that, and the iPhone owner is on the hook for making a fraudulent call..and ambulances are expensive, I doubt the hospital would just eat the cost of mobilizing it.
Someone should put some less drastic, silly command for Hey Siri or OK Google in a movie, and see how many in the theater it affects.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Really? I stopped thunking about the post when I got to "in route"
You've got a pint. That should have been "in root."
The interesting part missing from the article is that it was actually an NSA agent that called the ambulance...
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
Your question is stupid. If you have it enabled and say that it will do what you ask. What other answer were you expecting?
Try editing. WTF does "in route" mean?
And as we all know, your voice is your passport... totally unique... which is why we have so many voice-is-your-password authentication mechanisms....
My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
"OK, I found this on the web for 'call an ambulance'. Take a look:"
For this heart-touching story about how an insidious device that listens to everything you say and relays the information to the government (for the sole purpose to destroy your freedom and in turn your very life) is actually a good thing.
What happens if someone shout "Hey Siri call an ambulance" in a crowded room full of iPhone 6?
Try it! Library of Babel
It's implied that the person shouting "Hey Siri, Call an Ambulance" is doing so with the intention of initiating that action on another person's phone, possibly a group.
Some people seem to have this wacky idea that 'Hey, Siri" and "Okay, Google" respond only to their voice. That's not even a little bit true. This means that anyone can initiate an action on your phone without your consent. That should make you a little nervous.
Required reading for internet skeptics
It is trained, at least somewhat, to your voice. I don't know how selective it is, though. And as for the creepy-factor, you can turn it off, as I have done.
In the future you might have Siri call the police if it believes you are intoxicated or to tell the police that you're speeding. This would be the perfect tool for law enforcement. If you talk to a friend about buying drugs, Siri will narc on you.