Apple Apologises, Changes How Humans Review Siri Audio

Apple is apologising and changing the way humans review audio recordings made through the company's Siri digital assistant. The company already suspended the practice following the discovery that Apple and other major tech companies have been doing this. Apple now says only Apple employees, not contractors, will review the audio when the program is resumed this fall. And Apple reiterated that it won't be enabled by default. Rather, users will have to choose to participate.

In its blog post Wednesday, Apple said the company wasn't living up to its ideals.

Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple have had people review audio recordings of users' interactions with artificial intelligence assistants in order to improve the services. But users aren't typically aware that humans and not just computers are reviewing audio.

Closer home in India, aviation regulator DGCA has asked flyers not to take Apple MacBook Pro laptops on planes.

Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday said passengers should not carry models of 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops that Apple deemed a safety risk due to overheating batteries. Apple had on June 20 issued a notice on its website regarding the risk posed by the models of the MacBook Pro laptops.

"Apple has determined that, in a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units, the battery may overheat and pose a fire safety risk. Affected units were sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017 and product eligibility is determined by the product serial number," it added.

The company said it has voluntarily decided to replace affected batteries, free of charge.

DGCA chief Arun Kumar tweeted, "Consequent upon the recall of a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops by Apple Inc (sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017) due to fears that their batteries may overheat and pose a safety risk, DGCA requests all air passengers not to fly with the affected models either as hand-baggage or checked-in baggage until the battery has been verified/certified as safe or replaced by the manufacturer."

HIGHLIGHTS

• Apple reiterated that it won't be enabled by default.
• Rather, users will have to choose to participate.
• Major companies have had review of audio recordings of users.