Apple introduces Siri, which freaks everyone out
The human panic for artificial intelligence took off with the introduction of Apple’s Siri, launched in 2011 as the company’s “personal assistant” for the iPhone 4S. Folks were reacting as if Skynet’s cautionary tale had come true and the robots were finally going to take over because their phones could make a phone call with a mere voice command. The horror!
What Siri actually did was normalize everyday interactions with a digital entity. Siri also helped light the fire under Google and the rest of its competition to hurry along with their own voice-activated assistants. And on a softer side of the internet, there were stories of parasocial relationships forming between the digital assistants and neurodivergent humans seeking connection.
