Hey Siri, How Are You Holding Up?

Remember when Siri first graced our iPhones in 2011? It was like having a pocket-sized assistant ready to answer questions, set reminders, and even tell a joke or two. Fast forward to 2025, and the AI landscape has transformed dramatically. With the rise of advanced conversational agents like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Amazon’s newly revamped Alexa+, one can’t help but wonder: where does Siri stand in this AI-driven world?

Siri started as a groundbreaking feature, introducing many to the concept of voice-activated assistance. Over the years, Apple has improved it bit by bit, integrating it deeper into the Apple ecosystem and refining its natural language processing. But let’s be real—compared to the lightning-fast advancements of AI elsewhere, Siri has been moving at a snail’s pace. While ChatGPT and Alexa+ are having full-blown conversations and processing complex requests, Siri has often felt more like a basic command tool rather than an intelligent assistant.

Apple, of course, isn’t blind to this. In response to the AI boom, they introduced Apple Intelligence, a personal AI system designed to offer smarter, more contextual assistance across iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This system is built around Apple’s signature privacy-first approach, meaning your data stays on your device rather than being processed on remote servers like ChatGPT or Gemini. As part of this AI push, Siri is getting some much-needed upgrades.

Siri now has a refreshed design, with a glowing multi-colored border when activated, making it feel more modern. It can also handle follow-up questions without needing the repetitive “Hey Siri” command, making interactions a little more natural. And beyond just answering basic queries, Siri now has some extra tricks up its sleeve, like reading web pages aloud in Safari and even helping you find a lost Apple TV remote. Small wins, but in a world where AI is evolving by the day, is it enough?

That’s where things get tricky. Despite these updates, Siri’s full AI transformation is still a work in progress. Apple has faced internal hurdles, pushing back major upgrades that were initially expected sooner. The real AI-powered version of Siri—one that could rival ChatGPT or Alexa+ in deep conversation—might not arrive until iOS 20. Meanwhile, competitors aren’t waiting around. Amazon is gearing up to launch Alexa+, which promises a more personalized and human-like experience, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT continues setting the gold standard for conversational AI. Siri won’t be completely left behind, though. A rumored update this spring is set to introduce new features, including the integration of Apple Intelligence. The update will include a dual-function system—one for handling everyday tasks and another focused on more advanced queries, with a full launch expected in 2026.

Apple, however, is playing the long game. They’ve announced a massive investment in U.S. manufacturing, including a new facility in Houston that will produce servers for Apple Intelligence and Private Cloud Compute. This move signals a serious commitment to building the infrastructure necessary to support more advanced AI features, hinting that they’re preparing for something bigger down the line.

But the question remains: will Siri fade into the background, or is it just biding its time for a major comeback? Right now, it’s stuck in the middle—improving, but still lagging behind the AI revolution. Whether Apple can bridge the gap before users move on to more advanced assistants remains to be seen. Or perhaps, in this rapidly escalating AI battle, Siri might become just another casualty of the battle for AI supremacy.

Photo by omid armin on Unsplash