Huffington Magazine Issue 33 | Page 50

AP PHOTO/PAUL SAKUMA SIRI RISING Futurists and researchers predict such voice-controlled software, like Siri and Google Now, will take us from understanding how to use technology to technology that understands us. “We’re moving more and more towards an interface like the interface we have with each other,” says Saffo. “Our whole trend is toward ever more intimate interactions HUFFINGTON 01.27.13 with machines [...] and with each phase, machines are doing something ever more central to our lives.” These ever more central tasks include everything from taking care of life’s little hassles to actually shaping what we do. Siri’s founders had planned to make the assistant a source of personalized advice and wisdom by implanting Siri with CALO’s cutting-edge learning skills. Siri would have taken it upon itself to summon information that hadn’t specifically been requested. Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, talks about Siri on the iPhone 4S at the Apple Headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.