October 4 is the tenth anniversary of the introduction of Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant. Consumers were thrilled when Siri was first presented at an Apple press conference, answering requests for a weather report and other web searches. Siri was later followed by Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa, enabling consumers to accomplish all types of tasks simply by talking to their devices. But these systems are not perfect, as they often present answers that come from flawed websites, or they misunderstand the core of the question. What answer did Siri give that was controversial in the Jewish community, leading to a correction by Apple?

Para el iPhone 8 Apple renovará Siri con mejoras en inteligencia artificial by iphonedigital is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

A. Earlier this year, Siri responded to the question “What is the best kosher ice cream?” by responding, “Ben and Jerry’s, because they are both Jewish.”

B. In 2020, Siri responded to questions about Israel’s then-president Reuven Rivlin by saying “Reuven Rivlin is the president of the Zionist occupation state.”

C. When asked if bowling was allowed on the Sabbath, Siri responded, “According to a leading Jewish authority, ‘I told that kraut a thousand times that I don’t roll on Shabbos!’ ”

D. In response to a question about apartheid, Siri answered, “Apartheid is a policy or system of segregation or discrimination based on racial prejudice, as previously practiced in South Africa, and currently found in the Israeli-occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza.”

E. In 2011, Siri responded to the question “What brand of jeans should I buy?” with “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levi’s.”

Click here for the answer.

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