I was on my phone this morning trying to create three reminders. Simple stuff. I need to sync my calendars this weekend, and I wanted a reminder for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 9:00 am so I don't forget.
With Siri, I couldn't just say that. I had to create the first reminder, then ask for the second one, then the third. Three separate interactions for what is fundamentally one request: remind me to do this thing on these three days.
If I'd been at my computer, I could have said the exact same sentence to Claude through Wispr Flow, and it would have been done. One sentence. Three tasks created in my Notion database, each scheduled for the right day and time. The difference isn't subtle.
The Setup That Makes It Work
This works because of the setup behind it. Claude connects to my Notion workspace through MCP, and n8n handles the automation layer. It took some configuration to get there. But once it's in place, the AI understands what I'm asking and acts on it. It doesn't need me to break a simple request into three separate interactions.
Fifteen Years and Counting
What's perplexing to me is that Apple, a company with essentially unlimited resources and some of the best engineering talent in the world, still can't do this. Siri has been around since 2011. Fifteen years later, she can't handle "create a reminder for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday." She just does the first one and waits for you to repeat yourself.
I'm sure there are good reasons. Privacy architecture, on-device processing constraints, the complexity of serving billions of users. I get that these are real challenges. But the gap between what Siri can do and what's available right now through other tools isn't shrinking. It's growing. And it's becoming obvious to anyone who uses both.
Why This Matters Beyond My Workflow
This matters beyond my personal workflow. Most people's daily experience with AI is their voice assistant. That's their reference point. And if that reference point is Siri struggling with a two-part follow-up, it shapes how they think about what AI can and can't do. It builds a mental model that's significantly behind where the technology actually is.
The tools that are changing how work gets done don't look like a voice assistant on your phone. They look like systems that understand your context, connect to your tools, and reason through what you need. The distance between those two experiences is getting wider every month.
The Cost of an Outdated Reference Point
If your understanding of AI is shaped mostly by Siri or Alexa, you're working with an outdated picture. And the cost of that misunderstanding, especially for business leaders trying to figure out their AI strategy, is going up.