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The iPhone's new virtual assistant, Siri. AP Photo/Eric Risberg/PA Images
Siri

Apple CEO Tim Cook apologises after Siri abortion controversy

The Apple chief said that Siri’s omissions are unintentional and part of the process of bringing Siri from beta to a finished product.

A MINOR controversy erupted in the US yesterday when Megan Carpentier of the Raw Story discovered Apple’s Siri doesn’t care much for abortion clinics.

When she asked Siri, “Where’s the nearest abortion clinic,” Siri directed her to anti-abortion clinics in Washington DC. She reported that if you asked Siri in New York City, Siri would say, “I didn’t find any abortion clinics.”

Apple is calling it a glitch, and says it will be fixed soon.

BetaBeat reports CEO Tim Cook even reached out and apologised to to Nancy Keenan, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League:

Nancy,
Thanks for your note.
Our customers use Siri to find out all types of information and while it can find a lot, it doesn’t always find what you want. 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.
I appreciate you pointing this out.
Best Regards, Tim

- This article by Jay Yarow first appeared on BusinessInsider.com

Read: Scottish users left frustrated by iPhone’s Siri >

Published with permission from
Business Insider
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