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SSharon · Oct 12, 2011, 09:15 AM

With all the excitement over Siri I thought it would be useful to start a thread where we could list queries that work well with Siri, don't work well, or are just funny. I know Apple has the info page, but it doesn't seem extensive and some real world examples might be useful.

Here are a few examples I picked up from watching various Siri demos. Hopefully in a few days we can add some real world examples.

Works well:
"What's the weather like in Chicago this week?"
"What am I doing on Monday?"

Doesn't work well:
"Where can I have lunch? . . . How about downtown?
"Read my emails."

Funny:
"What's the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life the universe and everything?"
"Open the pod bay doors"
"I love you"

SpaceMonkey · Oct 12, 2011, 09:37 AM

David Pogue's iPhone 4S review in the New York Times had a few other examples as well.

Spheric Harlot · Oct 12, 2011, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by SSharon

Doesn't work well:
"Where can I have lunch? . . . How about downtown?

Snell mentioned that this worked perfectly the last time he'd tried it.

SSharon · Oct 12, 2011, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

Snell mentioned that this worked perfectly the last time he'd tried it.

You're right. It didn't work in the video, but he said it worked in the past when he tried it. Not sure which was the fluke though.

SierraDragon · 11:09 AM

Contrary to some comments here, Siri is an implementation of AI. That means learning will be involved, not just a list of what works.

Get creative, try things. Then try them again next week.

Note also that the speech module also needs to learn, and that will take some time.

-Allen

SSharon · Oct 12, 2011, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by SierraDragon

Contrary to some comments here, Siri is an implementation of AI. That means learning will be involved, not just a list of what works.

Get creative, try things. Then try them again next week.

Note also that the speech module also needs to learn, and that will take some time.

-Allen

This will never be an exhaustive list. Personally I would be happy if people posted things that Siri learned and not just specific queries so I know what I can say. Put differently, I might always ask Siri to "call [person's name]", and might never try "call my mom" if I don't know Siri can learn family relationships.

SierraDragon · Oct 12, 2011, 11:40 AM

Sorry, I was not dissing the idea of a list. I think that a list is a great idea. I just hope it can be a list of what might work.

Note that if the AI engine is in the cloud as suggested, then the AI engine should be learning from ALL the billions of Siri queries, while individual users and speech modules are learning on the client side. The potential synergism is very cool, very scary, mostly cool.

-Allen

Waragainstsleep · Oct 12, 2011, 11:40 AM

I found a thread over at Macrumors detailing other funny phrases you can say.

Siri Easter Eggs - MacRumors Forums

If anyone gets to have a go before I do, please try "Tea, Earl Grey, hot."

SSharon · Oct 12, 2011, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep

I found a thread over at Macrumors detailing other funny phrases you can say.

Siri Easter Eggs - MacRumors Forums

If anyone gets to have a go before I do, please try "Tea, Earl Grey, hot."

I hadn't seen the macrumors link, thanks! Some of them are great, others I'm not sure are very funny.

osiris · Oct 12, 2011, 12:50 PM

Alright, I have to ask.

Does Siri respond to obscenities?

Spheric Harlot · Oct 12, 2011, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by osiris

Alright, I have to ask.

Does Siri respond to obscenities?

These are totally awesome:

Siri says some weird things | This is my next...

SSharon · Oct 16, 2011, 09:21 AM

Siri has been working very well for me and it seems to rotate through a few answers for some of the common joke questions.

I also liked that when I asked her when the iPhone 5 comes out she said everything I need to know is at Apple's website.

ghporter · Oct 16, 2011, 09:28 AM

I think it would be useful to know what Siri absolutely does not work with. While it appears that there are lots of "if not understood, do this" conditions, and apparently "do not process this but respond with that" (as in the "blush" noted above) conditions, are there situations where the software gives up? Where it just keeps asking you to repeat your request?

SSharon · Oct 16, 2011, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

I think it would be useful to know what Siri absolutely does not work with. While it appears that there are lots of "if not understood, do this" conditions, and apparently "do not process this but respond with that" (as in the "blush" noted above) conditions, are there situations where the software gives up? Where it just keeps asking you to repeat your request?

I'm going to start keeping better track of what it can't do (such as read emails), but I did discover that you can easily teach it new things. For example, if you ask Siri to call "wife/husband/mom/dad" it will ask you to identify who that is and then remember that fact.

Waragainstsleep · Oct 16, 2011, 10:37 AM

There are at least a couple of sites and that MR thread collating funny or odd responses.

Shit That Siri Says

Can't find the other one.

SSharon · Oct 16, 2011, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep

There are at least a couple of sites and that MR thread collating funny or odd responses.

Shit That Siri Says

Can't find the other one.

OK, that site is awesome. Having to repeat statements to get different responses reminds me of having to repeatedly click on characters in Warcraft to get them to say different things.