Siri might not know anything about the Women’s World Cup, and will school you if you ask her certain math problems, but one thing Apple’s assistant gets right most of the time is information about Caitlyn Jenner.
If you try and ask Siri questions using Jenner’s former name, Siri will tell you information using her correct name and pronouns—most of the time. Ask about physical features, gender, family relationships, and celebrity status, and Siri will automatically interpret the input and return results as Caitlyn.
Siri/Selena Larson
However, when you ask “Who is Bruce Jenner?” and whether or not “Bruce Jenner” was ever in the Olympics, Siri will point you to an old Wikipedia page with outdated information that doesn’t use Jenner’s correct name or gender.
Siri/Selena Larson
Ask Google something similar, and you’re met with less-mixed results. Because “OK, Google,” pulls data directly from the search engine, most of the search results are accurate for the transgender reality star and former Olympian. However, at least one search result pulls data from Encyclopedia.com, which does not have correct information.
Google/Selena Larson
While Siri’s answers are lauded across the Web, it’s important to note that the search assistant doesn’t recognize nor correct each instance of misgendered pronouns or the use of Jenner’s old name. It’s great that the input is usually changed to the correct name, but it’s not 100 percent accurate all the time yet. Part of that has to do with search results, though Siri’s dated information is rather inexplicable, considering the Wikipedia page for Jenner was updated immediately after her Vanity Fair cover hit the Web.
Tech companies often have a hard time understanding issues that impact the LGBT community—just look at Facebook and its continued “fake names” debacle that’s disproportionately affecting LGBT users despite constant criticism and calls for Facebook to remove the policy. So when tech companies or apps do get something right, even indirectly, it’s refreshing.
H/T TheNextWeb | Illustration by Max Fleishman