The new AI-enhanced Siri is quietly revolutionary. Here’s why

After a couple years of false starts, the new AI-enhanced Siri has finally arrived on Apple devices via public beta. Its most revolutionary feature may be what it doesn’t do – namely, it doesn’t try to be your buddy.

I’ve been testing the new Siri (which goes into wide release this fall once iOS 27, macOS 27, and the Apple’s other OS 27’s land) on my iPhone for the past few days, and I’m struck by how business-like it is.

No, the new Siri isn’t curt or blunt, but it’s not trying to cozy up to me, either. It’s not showering me with praise, nor is it needlessly trying to extend conversations. It just does what you ask it to do (well, aside from a few bugs), then gets out of the way. Saying “Here you go” after it completes a task is about as effusive as the new Siri gets.

Siri’s lack of suck-upage shouldn’t be confused with a lack of AI ability. The revamped Siri can do some pretty cool things, from sifting through and organizing email to brainstorming ideas, putting them into a Notes file, and then tucking that file into any folder you see fit.

Welcome to another edition of Prompt Mode, your weekly AI newsletter.

I’m your host, Ben Patterson. Each week on Prompt Mode, I’ll be serving up analysis of the AI trends that matter to everyday users like you and me. Stay tuned for practical AI tips, hands-on experiences with the latest AI tools, and–you guessed it–prompts to help you get the most out of your AI assistants.

Thanks for reading, and if you like what you see, just sign up right here.

In another nifty example, I asked Siri about my daughter’s class field trip this morning. Siri was able to pluck the info from my email and text messages, telling me where and when the meetup was, along with the teacher’s phone number. That’s the kind of practical, everyday AI help that I could really use.

Most importantly, when I’m done with Siri, it disappears. The new Siri may be happy to help, but it’s not a friend, nor is it the star of the show.

Apple’s understated approach with Siri stands in stark contrast with what we’re seeing with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. They often feel like they’re trying to bond with us or even pass for human.

Indeed, there was a report earlier this week that OpenAI’s rumored ChatGPT smart speaker is designed to “feel like a companion” and “connect on a humanlike level with users.” (OpenAI hasn’t commented on the report.)

The new Siri, on the other hand, doesn’t feel like a companion or confidant. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s just a competent AI assistant. And that’s what it should be.

Prompt of the week: The “pencil and paper” prompt

So, you asked Claude Code to diagnose a bug in your new Windows app, and it just took off and started coding. Sound familiar? It’s happened to me plenty of times, and while I appreciate Claude Code’s initiative, sometimes I’d rather talk things through first.

That’s where the “pencil and paper” prompt comes in handy. Whenever I ask Claude Code, Codex, or Google’s Antigravity a question, but want to keep it from galloping ahead, I add this to my prompt: “Stay in pencil and paper mode.” It’s a handy way to keep Claude, Codex, and Antigravity in check, and it works for other applications besides coding, too.