A Psychologist's Perspective On Siri

Siri

So far, this week's best tongue-in-cheek story belongs to Mercury News journalist Patrick May. He interviewed Bay Area psychologist Francine Toder, who recently explored Siri's often Sphinx-like approach to questions routine or unusual.

The shrink admirably dodged and weaved with the enigmatic, sometimes quite humorous voice of Apple's iPhone. What "human" truth emerged from this journey into a machine's mind? The psychologist observed that Siri was not quite ready to "open up." Would there be another session to encourage Siri to understand its own consciousness? "When someone comes in for therapy," Toder noted, "they have to want to change. I'm not sensing that Siri has any real desire at all to do that right now."