Siri AI can now understand what’s happening on your screen, dig through messages, and perform actions inside apps. Apple, however, seems to have much bigger plans for what Siri should be capable of. A new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests Apple is exploring giving Siri abilities similar to an autonomous AI agent that can handle ongoing tasks without constant instructions. CEO John Ternus is also reportedly pushing software chief Craig Federighi to move faster on AI development.
Siri could finally stop waiting for instructions
At present, Siri can handle multiple actions in one request, but you still have to ask it to do something. Keeping track of a task for several days, monitoring changes, and acting when needed is something it cannot do yet.
Then you have OpenAI’s ChatGPT Dots, which can work in the background, monitor connected apps, investigate problems, and prepare unfinished work for approval. Meta’s Muse agent has also demonstrated similar capabilities, including finding a permission slip in an email, filling it out, and following up on other arrangements. Apple apparently wants Siri to do something along those lines.
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A more independent Siri is still some way off
Apple already has its expanded App Intents framework, which allows developers to teach Siri more complicated actions across apps. Giving the assistant freedom to decide when to act, however, brings a whole different set of privacy and security concerns.
Ternus has already acknowledged those concerns while discussing Siri’s future. As far as availability goes, Gurman believes more autonomous capabilities could arrive as early as 2027. Apple hasn’t confirmed a timeline or what those capabilities might include.