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Per the Apple article, the detection is customized to the user who setup the device and went through an (on-device) enrollment training. > We compare the dista

Per the Apple article, the detection is customized to the user who setup the device and went through an (on-device) enrollment training. > We compare the distances to the reference patterns created during enrollment with another threshold to decide whether the sound that triggered the detector is likely to be "Hey Siri" spoken by the enrolled user. > This process not only reduces the probability that "Hey Siri" spoken by another person will trigger the iPhone, but also reduces the rate at which other, similar-sounding phrases trigger Siri. Contrast with Amazon, where the mere suspected presence of the wake word is enough to get it sent to the cloud for further analysis. My overall point is that Amazon is much more indiscriminate about assuming you are talking to it and sending stuff to the cloud to act on (which sometimes includes discarding). Whereas Apple will only send what it believes to be a command. Amazon will continue to build up a database of sent audio in order to improve this cloud-based double-check of the wake word, whereas Apple will discard a command that it didn't know how to act on, never needing to improve a cloud-based wake word refinement.

ars 4y ago
You seem to have a strange blind spot for Apple. Amazon is doing the exact same thing: Only sending to the cloud what it believes to be a wake word. The stuff you are writing is just not true. > This process not only reduces the probability that "Hey Siri" spoken by another person ... Contrast with Amazon Siri is personal on a single phone, while Alexa is meant to reply to anyone in the room. You need to figure out why you have this blind spot for Apple, it's causing you to misunderstand things.
- incanus77 4y ago
  It's true, I have a long Apple history and I do think that Apple means what it says about prioritizing privacy over convenience (and in many cases, accuracy — Siri is quite frustrating at times). They have taken a not-cloud-first approach which causes the quality to suffer for the tradeoff of gaining plausible deniability with storage of personal data and emphasis on user privacy. But I still think Apple's approach is radically more aggressive on the "what it believes to be a wake word" angle. And the fact that wake words will never be validated in the cloud is arguably (I'm trying to make the point) better than sending any wake words to the cloud. Less data in the cloud is better for user privacy.
  - ars 4y ago
    > And the fact that wake words will never be validated in the cloud is arguably (I'm trying to make the point) better This is what I mean by "blind spot", Amazon is not validating wake words in the cloud - it's filtering out REAL wake words that it thinks might be TV words. Siri on the other hand does no such filtering, so is arguably worse. You think that's it's better, but that's because you have not thought this all the way through.
    - incanus77 4y ago
      I am fully onboard with the fact that Siri is the worst personal digital assistant out there. Will think on the rest, and do some more reading. I appreciate the responses.

ars 4y ago

You seem to have a strange blind spot for Apple. Amazon is doing the exact same thing: Only sending to the cloud what it believes to be a wake word. The stuff you are writing is just not true. > This process not only reduces the probability that "Hey Siri" spoken by another person ... Contrast with Amazon Siri is personal on a single phone, while Alexa is meant to reply to anyone in the room. You need to figure out why you have this blind spot for Apple, it's causing you to misunderstand things.

incanus77 4y ago
It's true, I have a long Apple history and I do think that Apple means what it says about prioritizing privacy over convenience (and in many cases, accuracy — Siri is quite frustrating at times). They have taken a not-cloud-first approach which causes the quality to suffer for the tradeoff of gaining plausible deniability with storage of personal data and emphasis on user privacy. But I still think Apple's approach is radically more aggressive on the "what it believes to be a wake word" angle. And the fact that wake words will never be validated in the cloud is arguably (I'm trying to make the point) better than sending any wake words to the cloud. Less data in the cloud is better for user privacy.
- ars 4y ago
  > And the fact that wake words will never be validated in the cloud is arguably (I'm trying to make the point) better This is what I mean by "blind spot", Amazon is not validating wake words in the cloud - it's filtering out REAL wake words that it thinks might be TV words. Siri on the other hand does no such filtering, so is arguably worse. You think that's it's better, but that's because you have not thought this all the way through.
  - incanus77 4y ago
    I am fully onboard with the fact that Siri is the worst personal digital assistant out there. Will think on the rest, and do some more reading. I appreciate the responses.