Post #1403802
2026-04-19 11:23 UTC
Replies (16)
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@Eichi@mastodon.bierschutzpartei.de 2026-04-19 11:33
@karb I don't think I've even owned a device with a built in assistant besides an iPad I rarely use.
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@coffee@cafecreature.club 2026-04-19 12:10
@karb I used Google Assistant before Google's rapid enshittification phase really kicked off. I switched to iOS later but never used Siri on that, rather relying on making elaborate scripts in their Shortcuts app, an approach that felt nicer and more reliable to me. All of that happened before the advent of LLMs. My current stance is that I will not use a voice assistant that is not open-source and developed ethically (an example of an unethically-developed voice assistant would be one that promotes the use of LLMs trained on stolen and scraped data).
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@gra@hachyderm.io 2026-04-19 12:21
@karb Not convinced Siri is remotely AI-enhanced, at least not on my equipment. It's never been great but it's the best voice interface I've had and that's quite an important accessibility feature for me. I refused to use the other two on privacy grounds (I know, I know) long ago.
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@Lingondraken@mastodon.social 2026-04-19 13:07
@karb I have never used it, got all notion of smart speakers or what have you banned in my home because I find it creepy to have something that is connected and always listening
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@jihyn@bark.lgbt 2026-04-19 13:13
@karb I like the idea of them before the current AI hype train. However I found them more of a hindrance than a help because anything more than basic commands (turn the light on, connect to Bluetooth, etc) got mangled thanks to my northern English accent.
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@stokes@meow.social 2026-04-19 13:26
@karb I used Android voice assistant early on but I stopped when I became more concerned about privacy and cloud dependency. That was a while before AI blew up.
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@rkniner@yiff.life 2026-04-19 13:35
@karb Assistants were always one of the first things I would turn off on a new phone (or other smart device); I never liked the idea of having something around that was always listening & internet-connected, even before AI came on the scene.
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@morgunkorn@meow.social 2026-04-19 13:45
@karb i use siri for basic use cases, mostly from my watch: - quick math when baking (like if i want to make 1.6x a recipe to fit a bigger shape or mold) - setting a timer - starting a workout - unlocking the homekit-controlled front door - turning lights on/off in my home anything else i've given up on trying, it's too stupid to do anything useful, and is mostly slower than whipping out my phone. what doesn't work at all: - playing a particular song on the Homepods, because it only understands 1 language. good luck playing a chinese, french or german song with a voice command when Siri is in English
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@Rejax@blimps.xyz 2026-04-19 15:24
@karb I used Alexa for a very short time about a decade ago and didn't like the idea of it listening to me. I haven't used anything along those lines since
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@alkaid@social.lol 2026-04-19 15:59
@karb I've helped train them for smaller companies in exchange for small sums of money, but I generally hate using them. Same goes for phone calls where I have to talk to a machine instead of a person. I talk fast and find they often don't understand me unless I force myself to talk slower and use simpler words to be understood. I think there was a study about this awhile ago; having to change how you talk to use the damn things.
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@daedalouseros@hollow.raccoon.quest 2026-04-19 16:01
@karb@bark.lgbt for neuance: I am not against the idea of Gen AI. It is a tool and nothing more. I am against its current, capitalistic implementation built on stolen labor and unconsensually gathered data. I think, in a better world, Gen AI would make things better. Just in this world it's a half-baked, capitalistic, tech bro fever dream and it's not made with good intentions. I don't think it's possible for it to be anything else under capitalism.
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@NaraMoore@sakurajima.moe 2026-04-19 16:05
I avoid being spied on. AI in no way changes that equation.
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@KayOhtie@blimps.xyz 2026-04-19 16:08
@karb used to use Googl's for assistive things primarily in the kitchen, but it steadily got worse and worse and they started pushing me to use Gemini on it which didn't even support basic features I used it for. Ditched it to replace with something that does run entirely local and does the vast majority of what I wanted, and I get to add additional functions myself without needing any cloud or LLMs.
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@Saxxon@yiff.life 2026-04-19 17:08
@karb Others in my household liked to use Google Assistant. I didn’t really like to use it, but I didn’t oppose them having it and using it. It seems though they are using it substantially less these days. We have incrementally replaced Google’s involvement with Home Assistant. It was nice to control the lights when entering a dark room while carrying a lot of groceries or some such. But aside from home control, my household finds Google’s answers less useful or even outright incorrect now. So they don’t really ask Assistant anymore.
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@tretron@bark.lgbt 2026-04-19 21:16
@karb i used to use nest speakers they are quite nice for music and such... But gemini features conpletely fucked it up now not even the simplest commands dont properly run... So i now use home assist voice commands. Way more basic... But basic works way better
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@keea@pet.fuzzy.zone 2026-04-20 19:04
@karb one of the annoying things is that while Assistants used to have fairly well defined natural language interfaces, i’ve noticed they’ve gotten *worse* and less predictable as companies began adopting LLM into them