Most people around the world relies on the usefulness and effectiveness of what technology brought to us, but what if a certain gadget can’t give you the exact answer you never thought of and expects? How would you react?
Well, parents of a 12-year-old lad Briton Charlie Le Quesne was shocked when the Apple’s voice (–foul word(s) removed–)istant app Siri blurted out obscenities when their son asked the application how many people there were in the world.
According to Charlie, he picked up a demo handset of the iPhone 4S at a Tesco store in the UK, and asked Siri: “How many people are there in the world?”. The personal (–foul word(s) removed–)istant app, which uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, said in response: “I’m not sure what you said there, Shut The F**k Up, You Ugly T***.”
The horrified Kim, mother of Charlie said that the phone was a demo version and was low enough on the shelf for Charlie to have a go with it. His son asked it a simple question and she couldn’t believe the filth it came out with.
“I thought I must be hearing things. So we asked again and the same four-letter stuff blared out. I asked for the manager and after staff heard it they agreed to unplug it,” Kim said.
It seems pranksters had tampered with the phone’s settings, and added the foul-mouthed tirade as the name of the owner. Siri would read it out regardless of the question, as the system addresses the phone’s user by name, using information inputted into its contact list.
According to Sun’s reports, the Siri system refers to the phone’s user by name — using information stored in its contacts system. The jokers had entered the rude seven-word phrase as the user’s name — so the phone blurted it out when it answered a question.
But Kim said she couldn’t see the funny side of it.
On the contrary, the supermarket chain will be going to launch an investigation. The handset will be going back to Apple for diagnostic tests.
iPhone 4S Siri
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkDyEWvs8iA[/youtube]