It seems Apple’s AI woes continue. Just when we thought things couldn’t get more embarrassing than delaying “Apple Intelligence,” we get this gem. John Gruber, over on Mastodon, shared a screenshot of his recent conversation with Siri, and let’s just say it’s not a good look:

MacOS 15.3.1. Asked Siri “How do you turn off suggestions in Messages?”

Siri responds with instructions that:

(a) Tell me to go to a System Settings panel that doesn’t exist. There is no “Siri & Spotlight”. There is “Apple Intelligence & Siri" and a separate one for “Spotlight”.

(b) Are for Mail, not Messages, even though I asked about Messages, and Siri’s own response starts with “To turn off Siri suggestions in Messages”

Gruber simply asked Siri how to turn off suggestions in Messages on his MacOS 15.3.1. Siri, in its infinite wisdom, first sent him on a wild goose chase to a non-existent “Siri & Spotlight” panel in System Settings. Then, it proceeded to give him instructions for Mail, not Messages!

This is beyond a simple bug; it’s a fundamental failure in understanding basic user requests. And remember, this is the same Siri that Apple wants us to believe is the foundation for their upcoming “Apple Intelligence” revolution.

Gruber himself pointed out the irony, highlighting how Apple touted “product knowledge” as a key feature of their AI, yet Siri can’t even navigate its own settings.

“Product knowledge” is one of the Apple Intelligence Siri features that, in its statement yesterday, Apple touted as a success. But what I asked here is a very simple question, about an Apple Intelligence feature in one of Apple’s most-used apps, and it turns out Siri doesn’t even know the names of its own settings panels.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Apple’s AI ambitions have outpaced their reality. This latest Siri stumble, coupled with the “Apple Intelligence” delay, paints a picture of a company struggling to keep up in the AI race.

Perhaps it’s time for Apple to take a step back, focus on getting the basics right, and then, maybe then, they can start talking about revolutionizing our AI experience.