One of thebiggest announcements at Apple’s WWDC 24was the news that Siri is finally getting an update. And while Siri is getting a lot of powerful new features, the voice-activated assistant is also getting the ability toharness the power of ChatGPT.
This new feature will kick in when you ask Siri something that’s beyond its capabilities but that’s right in ChatGPT’s wheelhouse. For example, if you want Siri to write you a haiku about monkeys, she can’t do it. Instead, she’ll ask if you want to use ChatGPT to answer that. The request will then be processed by OpenAI’s chatbot, and Siri will display and read the ChatGPT-generated response.
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It’s an exciting feature that will make Siri way more capable, but it’s almost certainly not going to be available when iOS 18 launches this fall, and may not releaseuntil 2025.
The good news is that it’s possible to get something very close to this feature right now. You don’t need a paid ChatGPT account, and even better, you’re not limited to theiPhone 15 Proand iPhone 15 Pro Max; this should work any current iPhone. The best part of all is that it’s incredibly simple; all you need to say is two little words. Here’s how to use ChatGPT in Siri right now.
How to make Siri use ChatGPT
Siri will speak, but the content comes from ChatGPT
Apple demonstrated using ChatGPT with Siri during WWDC 24. In the keynote demonstration, when Siri was asked a question that was beyond its capabilities, a pop-up appeared asking “Do you want me to use ChatGPT to do that?” TappingUse ChatGPTsent the request to ChatGPT instead, with the response appearing on-screen just like a standard Siri response.
You can simply tell Siri to"Ask ChatGPT"and the answer to your query will be generated by ChatGPT.
However, it’s already possible to achieve almost exactly the same result on your iPhone right now. As long as you have theChatGPT appinstalled and you’re signed in to any account, even a free one, you can simply tell Siri to"Ask ChatGPT"and the answer to your query will be generated by ChatGPT, before being read aloud by Siri. It all happens in the background; there’s no need to open the ChatGPT app or leave the screen you’re already on.
The flagship chatbot and large language model (LLM) service from OpenAI, which can answer complex queries and leverage generative AI skill sets.
There are a lot of apps in the App Store with very similar logos to the ChatGPT app and names that include “AI” and “Chat.” Many of these seem intended to trick you into downloading them instead of the official ChatGPT app. Make sure you’re selecting the official Open AI ChatGPT app; the official version is linked in the steps above.
What can I do with ChatGPT via Siri?
Siri becomes much more powerful, but there are limitations
Currently, Siri is incredibly limited compared to AI chatbots. For example, if you ask Siri to tell you a story about a forgetful horse, she might tell you a story that is unrelated to horses, let alone forgetful ones. However, if you ask ChatGPT via Siri, she will use the power of ChatGPT’sgenerative AIto tell you a unique story about a forgetful horse, all generated by ChatGPT.
If you ask Siri how to solve an equation, she might provide some links to websites that could help. If you ask ChatGPT via Siri, you’ll get astep-by-step solutionread out by Siri. Siri becomes instantly more useful. It’s akin to Neoplugging into the Matrixand suddenly knowing kung fu.
Siri also struggles with longer, more complex answers generated by ChatGPT
Another major improvement over Siri is the ability to use context. ChatGPT will remember your previous queries and use them to understand what you’re trying to ask. For example, if you ask Siri what the first sign of the zodiac is, she’ll tell you. If you then ask “What’s the second?” she’ll try to give you a definition of the unit of time. She has no understanding of how your second question relates to your first. ChatGPT can understand everything in context, allowing you to have much more natural conversations.
However, there are some limitations. For instance, if you ask ChatGPT via Siri to create an image, it won’t work. If you have a paid ChatGPT subscription, the AI chatbot is able to create images, but even in this case, Siri isn’t able to display them. However, if you’re a paid user and you ask ChatGPT via Siri to create an image, you can open the ChatGPT app on your iPhone and find the image you requested in the saved conversation history.
Siri also struggles with longer, more complex answers generated by ChatGPT. If you ask it how to add conditional formatting to Excel, she might say something went wrong, as the response is too long and complex for Siri to process. However, you may find the response in the conversation history of the ChatGPT app.
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How to get Siri to use ChatGPT 4-o
Create a shortcut that always uses the latest version of ChatGPT
If you have a paid account, you can use the latest ChatGPT 4-o model through Siri. However, just saying “Ask ChatGPT” will usually default to ChatGPT 3.5 or ChatGPT 4. You can create a shortcut in theShortcuts appthat will force Siri to use ChatGPT 4-o. You can call this shortcut anything you wish, and then all you need to do is say the name of the shortcut to Siri to start a conversation with Siri 4-o.
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How to add ChatGPT Voice to the Action Button on iPhone
Open ChatGPT Voice with a push of a button
If you’d rather speak to ChatGPT directly instead of through Siri, you have a paid subscription, and you have anPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, you can add ChatGPT Voice to theAction Button. This will automatically open the ChatGPT app in Voice mode, without you needing to do anything other than start speaking.
This method will start a new voice conversation every time you use the Action Button, so you may not have access to information from previous conversations. However, ChatGPT can remember some key information across chats. For example, I told ChatGPT my favorite sports team, and it was able to retrieve that information in subsequent chats.
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How to open ChatGPT Voice using Siri
Launch ChatGPT Voice with Siri or an app icon
If you don’t have an iPhone with an Action Button, you can use Siri to start aChatGPT Voiceconversation using a spoken command or create a shortcut icon on your Home screen to launch ChatGPT Voice.
You can make the Siri command to launch the ChatGPT Voice conversation anything you want. Just remember, if Siri ever does become self-aware, the voice-activated assistant will remember how kind or mean you were to it.
