Why doesn't Apple's Siri do what I want?

Do you sometimes ask yourself that? As an Apple user, sure. How does it work? They turn to a previously unknown being, others might say a tool. A tool that talks. A tool that asks you how it can help you. And the most ingenious thing about it: The tool, or the being, answers. Mostly. And usually also to the exact question asked. Yes, I mean Siri, Apple's voice assistant.

Well, I think Siri is borderline genius. Siri as a great companion in professional and other everyday life. Siri dials numbers while we have our hands full with other things, googles like crazy for what we think we need to know immediately and can also be used as a virtual secretariat and dictation aid.

If we use Siri correctly and give him (or her??) Give us time to get used to ourselves. Or rather, our voice. Because this is not always a foregone conclusion. Recently, an acquaintance, I'll call her Karin here, asked me for advice. Siri would ignore her or never do what she wanted to do. Siri on Karin's I-Phone dialed the wrong number in principle or immediately announced that the contact – although stored – did not exist at all. I naturally find everything that has to do with voice interesting and devoted myself to this problem with pleasure.

I advised Karin to articulate clearly towards her recalcitrant Siri. And above all, patience. Karin had the tendency to give up immediately annoyed when Siri didn't deliver what she wanted immediately. Apple's miracle machine could never get used to Karin's voice and its very special sound and rhythm. And when Karin made another half-hearted attempt after a few weeks and Siri didn't follow the commands, everything started all over again.

Since I know how voice works and how Siri is designed, I was able to help. I recommended that Karin speak her wishes and orders more slowly and with overly clear articulation. At first, Karin felt a bit uncomfortable talking to her smartphone like a four-year-old, but after her first successes, she was gripped by ambition.

Today, Karin and Siri are best friends, get along splendidly and together they always overcome new vocal and content-related hurdles. I'm immensely happy about that. I've always known it, but it's very satisfying to see it proven once again. Voice has power. Voice works. Everywhere.