New Apple patent shows Siri butting into your text chats

Impact

An Apple patent published on Thursday hints at a future nobody asked for: more Siri! 

The patent illustrates texting conversations in which Siri would slide in when it may be of assistance. It would help with tasks like scheduling a get-together, figuring out everyone's ETA to a destination and making payments.

United States Patent and Trademark Office

"While current systems enable users to communicate and perform tasks, users are required to manually perform the tasks," the patent states. It also includes examples of tasks Siri would do for you, like "scheduling a meeting, performing a financial transaction, determining an estimated time of arrival, providing directions, providing weather information, alerting a user of relevant information, etc." 

If you think that might require sacrificing your privacy, you would be correct. In order for Siri to accomplish any of the aforementioned tasks, you would need to grant the virtual assistant access to some of your personal data, including your location, your calendar details and your financial apps. 

United States Patent and Trademark Office

The feature itself isn't groundbreaking — a slew of bots have been designed to help accomplish tasks like these in a casual messaging format. But this feature would end the need for an iPhone user to use outside bots and instead opt-in to an interjecting Siri. 

The good news for people who think Siri constantly chiming in sounds obnoxious as hell: A published patent is not a very good indicator of whether a feature or product will come to market. But it does prove Apple is brainstorming ways for Siri to be more involved in your life. It's like Her, only if Joaquin Phoenix hated "her."