Apple Draws a Line: Siri Won't Flatter You Like Other Chatbots

Apple is taking a deliberately restrained approach with its upcoming Siri overhaul, and early tests confirm the assistant knows when to stop talking. In a recent interview on the podcast *Mostly Human*, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi explained that the new Siri will actively resist sycophantic behavior common in chatbots from OpenAI, Google, and others.

"If you use many existing chatbots, they're really focused on engagement," Federighi said. "They kind of want to pull you in. They might encourage you to reveal things about yourself and use that to establish a connection." Apple designed Siri to do the opposite. "Siri really wants to say, 'Listen, that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to help you get things done. I can help you learn about the world.' But if you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri's not up for that. Siri's 100 percent not into that."

The interview, which also featured marketing chief Greg Joswiak, touched on privacy and Apple's new child safety protections. For business leaders evaluating AI assistants, the takeaway is clear: Apple is betting that users want a tool, not a digital companion. Whether that bet pays off in an era of increasingly intimate chatbots remains to be seen.

Source: The Verge