Morgan Stanley on how Apple’s Siri could use LLM effectively

With the addition of ChatGPT-like tech, “Apple is in a strong position to enable personal on-device assistants that span a wide variety of potential use cases,” argued the analysts at Morgan Stanley in a note to clients.

Making Siri smart again

They explain that by combining the on device machine learning power of Apple’s Neural Engine with on-device access to personal data held on the device, the company could create a unique and private solution likely to turn Siri from Zero to Hero.

They speculate that this information, Apple’s privacy commitment, and the processing power already inherent in the two billion Apple devices (including 1.2 billion iPhones) already in use globally could become a real advantage if Apple is capable of building such a system.

Optimized personal efficiency

“Given the significant amount of personal data that sits locally on Apple devices, an LLM-based assistant could proactively remind users about texts/calls that went unanswered, upcoming birthdays, or holidays that require planning (i.e., don’t forget about Mother’s Day this Sunday).

“Like GOOGL, Apple could also leverage its relationship with developers by granting an LLM-based Siri access to applications. In the Mother’s Day example, Siri could suggest ordering flowers through 1800Flowers… and given Apple Wallet stores your credit card and shipping information, Siri could place the order for you,” the analysts wrote.

A potential for smart subscription services

They also speculate this kind of tech could give Apple’s systems powerful capabilities as personal digital financial or healthcare assistants. These would monitor your status constantly, offering up proactive advice to help your body and finances stay in shape. Apple could even explore subscription-based access to pro versions of such services, they said.

The devil’s in the detail, of course.

“We believe Siri combined with LLMs could end up being a unique personal assistant vs. those from Google and Amazon; however, Apple’s AI capabilities are a question mark,” the analysts wrote. “Little has been said around whether AAPL is building its own LLMs, or if they’ll decide to partner with an open-source vendor such as StabilityAI.”

But Apple has a lot of competition

The analysts share these predictions in a market analysis exploring how most of the big tech firms can make use of this tech to improve their voice assistants. Google might find ways to automate and monetize search in certain domains, for example, or Amazon may seek to build the ultimate home control system. But Apple’s existing user base, processor advantages and privacy commitments many yet turn out to make Siri good again.

Maybe.

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