James Delahunty
1 Dec 2011 18:43
Apple responds to questions from bloggers and rights group.
The iPhone 4S maker said that its new digital personal assistant, Siri, is not "anti-abortion" after bloggers and women's rights groups asked the company to explain why it cannot find abortion clinics. In some cases, Siri suggests pregnancy advice centers as an alternative when asked about nearby abortion clinics.
"Our customers want to use Siri to find out all types of information, and while it can find a lot, it doesn't always find what you want," spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said in a statement.
"These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone, it simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better and we will in the coming weeks."
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, had written a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, saying that Siri is missing the mark when it comes to providing information about personal health issues such as abortion and contraception.
Siri has been bombarded with all kinds of questions from users who are posting the answers online. When asked what was the best mobile phone in the world, Siri replied: "Wait... there are other phones?," and informed users asking Siri to marry them that its "end user agreement does not cover marriage."