The iOS beta that with Write with Siri has alarm bells in my head for conversation, cognition, and something even bigger.
I was texting about a bad haircut I got (don’t worry, I’m being so brave and very strong about it), and saw you can just ask Siri what to say in a thread. And it will tell you. Here’s what it told me.
It begs the question of why would we ever let an AI tell us what to say in a text thread? Like, if we can’t actually text meaningful, thoughtful things to each other, what are we even doing here?
And this is what everyone with a modern iPhone will have in a couple months. Not just someone with a ChatGPT or Claude subscription… everyone. Everyone can prompt an AI for how to feel, what to think, and what to say.
Has Apple thought about this? What it means for people? For conversation? For critical thought? This feature will erode those things. Because of what it enables, this is the most thoughtless product decision Apple have ever made. Yes, worse than the Mighty Mouse charging port.
What happens if we keep relying on this and people no longer know how to process and present their emotions? It isn’t going to happen overnight, but this slope… it’s a very slippery one. Because typing to AI is only going to solve a surface issue, if it even gets you there. Most often it doesn’t. It certainly won’t help people get at what’s underneath. They won’t really process or understand themselves.
And processing things is how we get such beauty and meaning in this world. How much art comes from someone working out some pain or discomfort? How much music has come from people speaking through deep and vulnerable places?
It feels so weird to me.
I’ve seen a pattern of AI flattening the curve of written expression. But this gives me some nuance of what it could mean for that on a bigger scale.