Audio Intelligence

The Audio Intelligence part of Apple’s latest presentation gave me the ick. Apple has published a privacy overview, but privacy isn’t really what rubs me the wrong way here, although I’m still uncomfortable with devices that listen throughout the day. It’s the premise behind these features. They seem to be solving problems that don’t exist. I have no beef with Sound Recognition as an accessibility feature. But the rest? If I’m present and engaged in the moment, why would I want a Siri Recap at the end of the day? We don’t have to archive everything, and some things are supposed to fade. If I miss something someone says, I’d rather ask them to repeat it. That feels more natural, and more polite, than shifting my attention to my Apple Watch to check what they’ve just said. Shazam is great as it is. When I’m curious about a song, I ask it to identify it. I don’t want it constantly identifying the music around me. It all feels like a technical feat looking for a use case.