Siri is in big trouble. She has a “D” on her report card.
Apple’s voice recognition program, Siri, works accurately only 68 percent of the time in quiet rooms, according to a report released by the Minneapolis-investment bank Piper Jaffray & Co.
The study gave Siri a “D” for accuracy, noting that it will improve as more features are added.
Senior Research analyst for Piper Jaffray & Co. Gene Munster said he wanted to know how Siri stacked up against a Google search. Munster and his staff asked Siri 1,600 general questions, 800 on the busy streets of Minneapolis and 800 in a quiet room.
The study found that Google understands 100 percent of questions presented and replies accurately 86 percent of the time.
Siri accurately comprehends 83 percent of questions in noisy conditions and 89 percent in a quiet room. Siri answers inquiries accurately 62 percent of the time on a quiet street and 68 percent of the time in a quiet room.
“In order to become a viable mobile search alternative, Siri must match or surpass Google’s accuracy of B+ and move from a grade D to a B or higher,” Munster said.
Senior Cal State Long Beach kinesiology major Sean O’Neill said he didn’t buy the new iPhone because of Siri.
“I hardly even use Siri,” O’Neill said. “I think the only time I’ve used it is to mess around. I’ll tell her I have a dead body, and she’ll look up places for me to bury the dead body. It’s hilarious!”
CSULB alumnus Steven Burkett said he finds Siri useful most of the time.
“She’s definitely helped me out a few times when I was at the bars on Second Street,” Burkett said. “All I would have to say is ‘Siri, I’m drunk,’ and she would help me call a taxi.”
Burkett said he feels Siri still has room for improvement, especially with her GPS. Siri only gives directions from the place the user is at, not from other locations.
Munster estimates that Siri is more than two years behind Google in its learning curve, but he expects it to improve.
“With the iOS 6 release in the fall, we expect Siri to improve meaningfully while reducing its reliance on Google from 60 percent to 48 percent,” Munster said.
Elizabeth Perez, a junior nursing major, said Siri did not live up to her expectations.
“I would rather do a Google search and get the right information than waste my time asking Siri, because every time I ask her something she never gives me the right answers,” Perez said.
According to the help support section on Apple’s website, there will most likely be an update sometime this fall to improve Siri’s inaccuracies.