Apple’s Line in the Sand: Siri Will Never Be Your AI Girlfriend
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Following this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote, Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi and marketing head Greg Joswiak sat down for an interview with Mostly Human‘s Laurie Segall to discuss the changes coming to Siri in iOS 27.
In addition to discussing the core improvements in Siri AI, the trio also talked about how Apple views AI and why Siri is not there to be your AI girlfriend or boyfriend. As the two Apple execs explained, Apple makes its AI fundamentally different from the rest of the industry’s AI chatbots. The interview also touched on new protections for minors, and whether a huge company like Apple can continue to focus on people over profit.
Federighi says Apple set out to deliver an AI utility, not a companion. When Segall asked whether users could still turn the new Siri into an AI companion, Federighi said Siri AI is 100% not up for that, adding that Siri is meant only to help provide information and assistance — not a shoulder to cry on.
Quite the opposite, because as you may know, if you use many of the existing chatbots, they’re really focused on engagement to a large degree. And sycophancy, right? They kind of want to pull you in. They might encourage you to reveal things about yourself, and then use that as a basis to establish a connection.
We view it quite the opposite. I mean, the way that we have designed Siri, Siri really wants to say ‘Listen, that’s not what I’m here for, right? I’m here to help you. I can help you get things done. I can help you learn about the world.’ But if you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri’s not up for that. Siri’s 100 percent not into that.
Craig Federighi
Joswiak chimed in, saying Apple didn’t want to do AI for AI’s sake, and instead wanted AI to blend in with existing iPhone features.
We like when technology disappears, right? You just focus on what you want to do, or you focus on the content. And it’s the same thing with AI. […] We don’t do AI for AI’s sake. ‘Hey, look at us, we’re doing AI.’ It’s how does AI make everything better? And that makes our products better, our features better.
Greg Joswiak
Joswiak added that iPhone users shouldn’t have to be “prompt experts” to use AI on their device. “We want to meet them where they’re at,” he said. “Have the products and features become better, and this is just a really helpful technology in making those features and products better.”
Apple’s marketing chief underscored the company’s approach to AI, saying its motivation is to help the user with the goal of delivering concise answers rather than keeping the user engaged. He said it’s up to the user to continue the conversation if they need to.
“The motivations of Apple are different than some other companies,” said Joswiak. “Some people, their whole business model is ‘I need to keep you in what you’re in, I need to keep you in my app, my experience; that’s how I make my money.’ That’s not us.”
Federighi also emphasized that Apple’s approach to AI is privacy forward.
I think it’s a challenging thing for a lot of people to understand the distinction between what your iPhone knows and what, say, Apple as a company knows. Your iPhone is yours, right? Your data is yours and it stays on your phone and your control and Siri is using it for you. Apple doesn’t get to know any of this stuff, and that is very different than I think most players in the space, and I think super important.
Craig Federighi
The trio covered several other subjects during the conversation, including Apple’s 50th anniversary, other iOS 27 features, the future of AI, child safety, and more. The complete conversation is available for viewing in the above video, or for listening on the Mostly Human website.
