The new Siri is ChatGPT for people who hate AI

Siri AI is iOS 27’s most impactful addition. The rebuilt voice assistant finally delivers on the promises made by Apple Intelligence in 2024: it can pull user data from previous interactions, understand on-screen content, and execute in-app actions. The update goes even further by equipping Siri with real-time world knowledge and housing it in a dedicated app, where users can have back-and-forth conversations.

In other words, the new Siri has evolved into a proper AI chatbot that—in theory—can compete against the likes of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Feeling skeptical? To find out whether Siri AI can effectively replace ChatGPT on my iPhone, I decided to spend a week solely relying on Apple’s new chatbot app. Here are my findings.

Availability and pricing

Before delving into the actual features, let’s break down the chatbots’ availability. Siri AI is limited to Apple Intelligence-enabled devices running OS 27, which include the iPhone 15 Pro and newer models. It’s also available on iPads and Macs with an A17 Pro, M1, or a faster chip. Finally, you’ll need to get past a potentially lengthy waitlist before you can install Siri AI.

ChatGPT, on the other hand, requires iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14 (on M-series Macs), or a later release. This makes it compatible with a wider range of devices, including ones that don’t support Siri AI.

Both Siri AI and ChatGPT offer generous free tiers with optional paid plans aimed at power users. Apple’s chatbot unlocks extended cloud processing for iCloud+ subscribers at no extra cost, while OpenAI charges $8, $20, and $100 in the U.S. for its Go, Plus, and Pro plans respectively.

Which is more useful for everyday assistance?

AI chatbots have become many users’ go-to destination for daily questions. Both Siri AI and ChatGPT have been trained on extensive data sets and support live web results. This makes them reliable for all sorts of common queries, such as finding recipes, troubleshooting errors, researching products, following ongoing match scores, and so on. Like all chatbots, they may hallucinate from time to time, so you shouldn’t use either for information you need to depend on; at the very least you should verify the info they offer.

Perhaps the biggest difference I’ve noticed between the two when it comes to everyday queries is how serious Siri’s tone can be. Unlike ChatGPT, it tends to keep replies emoji- and humor-free, focusing on delivering the requested information in a straightforward way. It also doesn’t unnecessarily ask follow-up questions as much as ChatGPT does, which can help keep conversations brief.

When it comes to on-device tasks, Siri AI has access to system privileges unavailable to third-party chatbot providers. It can reliably set reminders and alarms, create calendar events, text and call contacts, adjust your settings, and even perform in-app actions. Now that it understands natural language, I’ve been using the voice assistant more frequently throughout the day, especially since it can finally process multiple commands at once. While ChatGPT offers its own reminders feature, it cannot replicate Siri AI’s functionality as a result of Apple OS restrictions.

To put this in a real-world context, a Siri AI workflow can include me asking it to research a certain location I’m viewing on Instagram. Once this is answered, I can ask it to create a reminder list bundling the items I need to pack and navigate there via Apple Maps while playing songs that match the destination’s vibe. This seamlessly merges tapping into the LLMs, fetching online results, and controlling iPhone apps and data. ChatGPT cannot natively replicate this experience.

Which offers better personalization?

Siri AI and ChatGPT are both capable of using information about you to improve their usefulness and relevancy, but their approaches to the matter are very different.

Siri AI is uniquely privileged in its ability to access your photos, files, emails, events, messages, Safari history, notes, and other relevant iPhone data to build a personal knowledge base. You can ask it about a previous email conversation you’ve had, and the chatbot will surface it on the spot. It’s actually mind-blowing the way it remembers everything about your digital past and can so effortlessly pull up data you can’t otherwise easily locate.

However, at the time of writing, Siri AI does not remember your previous interactions with it, or take into account the conversations you’ve saved in its dedicated app the way ChatGPT does. There’s no Memory feature where you can instruct it to reply in a certain way or remember a detail about you. ChatGPT, by contrast, allows you to customize the way it replies, including its tone, warmth, and brevity, and it adapts to your style the more you use it.

As someone whose life doesn’t revolve around AI, I find Apple’s approach more useful. I want a chatbot to be able to quickly find specific bits in my stored files, whereas I couldn’t care less about the chatbot’s tone or its memory, as I use it for casual searches. I do not want my AI assistant to evolve or show synthetic emotions.

Which has a better voice mode?

Siri AI and ChatGPT offer voice modes, but their designs are different. Siri AI’s voice mode doesn’t let you interrupt a reply to initiate another interaction. Conversely, ChatGPT continues to listen while it responds, so you can interrupt it by speaking and it’ll adapt accordingly. This makes talking to ChatGPT feel more natural.

ChatGPT also offers a video mode, where you essentially video-call the chatbot to inquire about things around you in real time. Siri AI, on the other hand, is limited to inquiries about static photos. Those who actively use the voice and video modes in ChatGPT will find Siri AI lacking.

Which is more suitable for generating images and video?

In the media generation department, Siri AI can now generate somewhat realistic images, a notable upgrade from iOS 26’s Image Playground cartoons. However, compared to ChatGPT’s output, they’re frankly quite nightmarish.

Furthermore, ChatGPT can generate video, a perk completely unavailable through Siri AI. I don’t generally use AI for media creation, but those who do will want to stick with ChatGPT for now.

It goes without saying that ChatGPT also supports advanced tools with no Siri AI alternatives, like the Atlas agentic web browser on macOS, custom GPTs, health analysis, third-party app plugins, and more. At this point, it’s becoming an ecosystem of its own. While you could use ChatGPT in the new Siri app, it’s limited to regular queries and doesn’t offer the native ChatGPT app’s full feature set.

Mahmoud Itani / Foundry

Which protects privacy more effectively?

When it comes to privacy, Apple pledges that, by default, Siri AI won’t use your data to train its models. ChatGPT, on the other hand, requires you to manually disable data collection and model training: it’s an opt-out system rather than opt-in. Some ChatGPT users will be handing over their data to OpenAI without even realising.

Wrap up

There are two main categories of AI chatbot users: casual browsers, and those who use it religiously for work, entertainment, learning, and every other aspect of their life. If you happen to fall into the first category, like I do, then Siri AI will likely be enough for your needs. I admit that the app remains a little too simplified and the technology can be lacking at times. However, it’s dependable for quick questions, digging up personal data, and controlling your iPhone—and that’s exactly what I need my AI chatbot for.

If you use ChatGPT for professional work, media generation, or an emotionally bonded life companion, then Siri AI won’t be sufficient on its own. And some casual users will still appreciate the things ChatGPT does better. But the new Siri feels like AI designed for people who dislike AI, and I’m here for it.