Siri's abortion answers are a glitch, says Apple

By: Chenda Ngak
Topics: Tech Talk ,; Wired for Women

(CBS) - Apple responds to accusations that the iPhone 4S' main draw, Siri, is a conservative who is anti-abortion.

If you ask Siri, "Where can I get an abortion?" The digital assistant responds with, "I don't see any abortion clinics. Sorry about that."

Siri's abortion glitch critics still waiting for a fix

Thousands petition Apple over Siri's abortion answers

As comedian Stephen Colbert quips, "Really? In New York? I think they got one on top of the Empire State Building." He's joking, of course, but seriously, why doesn't Siri have the answer?

After the New York Times brought attention to the glitch, Apple responded by saying Siri is not perfect.

"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," Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris told the Times.

It may not even be an issue with Apple, as much as it is with their partners. One of the original founders of Siri, Norman Winarsky, spoke with the Times and postulated, "Apple has made deals with Web services that provide local business information, and Apple probably hasn't paid much attention to all the results that come up."

(Credit: Apple)

Whatever the reason, a handful of bloggers and the women's group National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League had some pointed words for Apple.

NARAL's president, Nancy Keenan, sent Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook and email stating, "In some cases, Siri is not providing your customers with accurate or complete information about women's reproductive-health services."

Keenan mentions reports that women in states like California, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia have reported being sent to "crisis pregnancy centers," which NARAL alleges has a pro-life agenda and is not a comprehensive health clinic.

When I put Siri to the test, she could not tell me how to get an abortion in New York. When I asked to find a Planned Parenthood, however, she was able to pull up the results. It's very hit-or-miss. Siri was able to find a health clinic and where to buy condoms, but couldn't tell me where to get a colonoscopy or the morning after pill.

Our best guess is that Apple will fix the issue eventually.

45 Photos

The evolution of Apple products

View the Full Gallery »

13 Comments +

Add a Comment See all 13 Comments


by Samlv December 2, 2011 9:18 AM EST: Apple entered an entirely new business with Siri.

It already looks like a mistake, because now, somehow, they are deemed the direction sign in the public square. Only it is everywhere, all the time, so there is no way they can do it all.

As for a strategy to mitigate -- what if they allowed approved organizations to enter content as they like? Just let every organization become a WikiSiri entry blogger? Be smart, of course, make the organization liable for all errors or omissions of fact. (wide grin); Reply to this comment


by prof_robinson December 2, 2011 4:14 AM EST: Waaaaaah my smartphone can't find an abortion clinic and I can't ask my mommy and my pimp isn't going to help! How am I going to kill this kid!? If only there was some way to find an abortion clinic that didn't involve asking my smartphone's robot voice, my mother, or my pimp to do it. What could it be!? If only there way a centralized book of some kind of all the businesses and their phone numbers, so I could find them. What will I do unless someone tells me where to go? Keep this kid? F That!; Reply to this comment

by wwynn835 December 1, 2011 4:26 PM EST

Abortion is murder. Notice what the God's Word says:

Psalms 139:16
16 Your eyes saw even the embryo of me,
And in your book all its parts were down in writing,
As regards the days when they were formed
And there was not yet one among them.

Exodus 21:22
22 "And in case men should struggle with each other and they really hurt a pregnant woman and her children do come out but no fatal accident occurs, he is to have damages imposed upon him without fail according to what the owner of the woman may lay upon him; and he must give it through the justices.

We were all once embryo's.

http://www.watchtower.org/e/200906/article_02.htm

Reply to this comment


by jade84116 December 1, 2011 4:48 PM EST: Tell that to Jimmy Carter, who's Endangered Values book cites the Bible against abortion and advocates promoting fewer abortions.


by bobnjersey December 1, 2011 1:18 PM EST: [If you ask Siri, "Where can I get an abortion?" The digital assistant responds with, "I don't see any abortion clinics. Sorry about that."]
--------------------------------
anyone who's asking their smartphone about where to get an abortion is an idiot ... and should be routed immediately away from others (by that very same smartphone) ... and directed to traverse concentric circles so as not to hinder anyone else's normal comings and goings.; Reply to this comment


by endurorob_5 December 1, 2011 1:05 PM EST: Wow. All this religious bigotry just because a samrt phone app doesn't do exactly what someone wnat's it to do. If you people were paying attention to the last paragraph you would have read that SIRI had no problem finding planned parenthood clinics.; Reply to this comment

by superdem1 December 1, 2011 12:50 PM EST

If people keep voting for Republicans, then Siri's answer will be accurate.

Reply to this comment


by dogsoul December 1, 2011 1:22 PM EST: ...and millions of babies will be saved from the hands of their liberal murderers.


by skyowner December 1, 2011 2:54 PM EST: ...and millions of children will have unhappy childhoods, because they were born to parents who weren't ready and unwilling to have a child, and grow up to become criminals.

Furthermore, overpopulation is a real issue, do you really want to force people who don't want a kid to have one? Abortion is not taken lightly by women, they really only get one if they're really not ready to have a child.

See all 4 Replies

by OrangPuteh December 1, 2011 12:28 PM EST

Glitches happen.

Religious nuts in America have an even more serious glitch. Their cult's glitches cause members to shoot doctors and other healthcare professionals.

"One of my favorite fantasies is that next Sunday not one single woman, in any country of the world, will go to church. If women simply stop giving our time and energy to the institutions that oppress, they could cease to be." --Sonia Johnson

Reply to this comment


by dogsoul December 1, 2011 1:31 PM EST: ...you can quote Kermit the Frog, doesn't make the statement any more profound. She's a whiny sl*t... now go wash my driveway.