Apple is making an executive shift to strengthen its AI and Siri efforts by appointing Kim Vorrath, a 36-year veteran at the company, to its AI and machine learning division. Vorrath, who played a key role in launching Vision Pro software, will now serve as a top deputy to AI chief John Giannandrea, according to Bloomberg.
Although Apple made a significant AI push at WWDC last year with its Apple Intelligence initiatives, they haven’t made the same waves as competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. Progress has been gradual, with a major Siri upgrade expected to arrive in iOS 18.4, which will allow Siri to understand on-screen content and take action.
Meanwhile, AI-powered news notification summaries, initially introduced with iOS 18, will be paused in iOS 18.3 due to criticism over their accuracy.
Siri’s future updates are likely to focus on improving its AI capabilities and integrating more deeply with Apple’s ecosystem. Although Apple doesn’t typically release detailed roadmaps for Siri, there are a few areas we can expect to see improvements in:
- Better Natural Language Understanding: Expect more conversational abilities, with Siri becoming better at understanding complex queries and context. Apple is working on improving how Siri handles multi-step conversations and understanding more nuanced requests.
- Expanded AI Features: Apple has been putting a lot of resources into AI, so future updates might bring more smart suggestions, automation, and predictive actions based on your habits. etc,
Vorrath’s move to the AI team signals Apple’s desire to inject more rigor into its AI development, suggesting that the company views AI as a key focus for its future, potentially more important than the Vision Pro. Giannandrea’s memo reveals that the AI team is focused on revamping Siri’s infrastructure and improving Apple’s internal AI models this year.
