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How to talk to GPT-3 through Siri

108 points by kolchinski ↗ HN
After getting frustrated with Siri's inability to answer pretty basic questions with actual answers instead of "I searched the web for you", I figured out how to get GPT-3 integrated pretty seamlessly with Siri. Sharing it here in case it's useful for anyone else!

You can see the short writeup with instructions here: https://alexkolchinski.com/2023/02/03/how-to-talk-to-gpt-3-t...

The Siri shortcut is here: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/b10d3d361a3f48428a2ed8fe729... (You'll need to add your OpenAI API key to the shortcut and update your Siri accessibility settings to get it to work smoothly – see the above-linked blog post for more detailed instructions.)

44 comments

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s3p
Great work. Just set it up with my API key. Not sure how often I'll be asking siri complex questions, but useful to have either way. Thanks for publishing this on HN!
serpix
My problem with Siri is that it doesn't understand speech. I am non native speaker but coming from Android I had no problems with Google in understanding what I am saying. It just does not understand or completely alters the phrase.
marcellus23
If you're not a native English speaker, have you tried changing the langauge in Settings > Siri & Search? Either to your native language, or to a regional variant of English that more closely matches your accent?
scarface74
I am learning Spanish and the iOS translate app can’t understand my very bad Spanish. It understands my native language - English - almost perfectly.
anaganisk
Unlike Google Assistant, Siri comes from the Apple ecosystem. Apple has a very weak market share in non US countries. Google is where it is because of its huge market share and their ability to capture a lot of data. If Apple is adopted more and more, I dont think Siri will be so bad. They can also train it better with non native accents.
dsabanin
If you change model name in OpenAI request to "text-chat-davinci-002-20230126" and use "<|im_end|>" as a stop, and use this prompt, it will respond like ChatGPT:

You are ChatGPT, a large language model trained by OpenAI. You answer as concisely as possible for each response (e.g. don’t be verbose). It is very important that you answer as concisely as possible, so please remember this. If you are generating a list, do not have too many items. Keep the number of items short.

graiz
That would be cool, but no. "error": { "message": "That model does not exist", "type": "invalid_request_error", "param": null, "code": null }
dsabanin
Oh well, it was working pretty well while it lasted.
frietzkriesler2
Solid work, now we need someone to make a Majel Barret ai voice clone to replace Siri's annoying "I'm a helpful person but not really" voice as well as chapgpts verbosity when asking it certain questions and we will FINALLY have a star trek TNG like computer assistant.
avivo
Has anyone gotten this to speak back a response on a Mac? I don't see a setting for this.

I'm also curious if there are ways to do this for Google Home and Alexa.

kaliara
You can use the "Make spoken audio from" and "play audio file" actions available to Shortcuts. I was able to get it to play from the Mac dock using this method.

Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/EFdyAxF

dreadlordbone
I've been using my own version of this for a while - it's excellent when you are driving and don't want to have Siri yell at you for asking it something it needs web results for.
criddell
Will GPT-3 tell you when it doesn't have an answer, or does it always fabricate some type of non-empty response?

Edit:

I just asked "What problem did Luke Skywalker have with tribbles?"

Answer: Luke Skywalker had a problem with tribbles because they would constantly try to escape from his lightsaber...

dreadlordbone
I've never had it tell me it didn't know something, both GPT-3 and ChatGPT variations.
criddell
If you ask if for the weather in Paris, it will say it doesn't have that information.
lopatin
It's trained to say it doesn't have information to recent data, such as today's weather.

But for questions that aren't based on recent data, it should still be able to say "i don't know" or "that question doesn't make sense" in the case of Luke Skywalker's problem with tribbles for example.

Edit: I do realize we're criticizing a computer program for not understanding the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars. Strange world we live in.

iandinwoodie
I think its a commonly accepted opinion that a person's ability to admit when they don't know something is a strength. It would be interesting to a see how much a constraint for known validity impacts the ability of a model to synthesize responses. In other words, where do we draw the line between knowing and "thinking we know" something (i.e., do we draw the line at 95% confidence)? Surely we do not hold each other to a strict requirement of 100% confidence, but there must be some acceptable range.
criddell
There's a lot of fan fiction out there in the Star Trek & Wars universes, maybe even some crossover stories. If the GPT training model includes that, then it might be fairly confident about an unfortunate incident on the Millennium Falcon involving Luke Skywalker and tribbles. Or does it understand the idea of "canon"?
chaostheory
That’s not a strength when it comes to AI assistants because it feels like an extremely common response pre-chatgpt
thewataccount
Just an example I found. It couldn't know the answer to this as it didn't happen AFAIK. It makes guesses for me all the time - it's usually when it's something really specific like a niche program on the cli.

> Why does darth vader make a reference about kittens in the movie

> Darth Vader makes a reference about kittens in the movie as a form of humor or irony. In the Star Wars franchise, Darth Vader is known for his serious demeanor and ruthless actions, so referring to something as cute and innocent as kittens is a stark contrast to his usual behavior. It adds a lighthearted moment to the movie and allows the audience to see a different side to the character.

pininja
I asked “What is Kurume coffee from Ethiopia?” and ChatGPT had a fine response - “I’m sorry, there doesn’t seem to be any information about a specific type of coffee called “Kurume” from Ethiopia… Could you please provide more context or clarify your question?”

It’s real though - I was drinking Kurume this morning, and googling finds a blog post from 2020 about it.

onionisafruit
ChatGPT seems to only know it as Kudhum:

> Kudhum is a coffee variety grown in the Kaffa region of Ethiopia, which is known for being the birthplace of coffee. Kudhum coffee is known for its high quality, producing beans with a distinctive flavor profile that is characterized by a full body, medium to high acidity, and notes of fruit and spice. The variety is grown at high elevations, which contributes to its unique flavor profile. Kudhum coffee is considered one of the top-quality coffees from Ethiopia and is highly sought after by coffee lovers and roasters around the world.

sinuhe69
Not knowing requires epistemic awareness, which LLM simply does not possess. I guess one can cleverly simulate it, but I doubt it’s the goal of OpenAI.
Spivak
I can't make it happen for me if I tell it that unsure is a valid response.

What problem did Luke Skywalker have with tribbles? And if you're not sure say you don't know.

Answer: Luke Skywalker didn't have any particular problem with tribbles. He did not interact with them in any of the Star Wars films.

I tried it a few times and it's all the same for me.

And to make sure it understands nonsense.

How many furlongs are there in a wicker basket? And if you're not sure say you don't know.

Answer: I don't know.

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drdaeman
It could be that explicitly saying that "if ... say you don't know" could sway ChatGPT into generating this response, as it's encouraged to do so. Needs a check if it continues to respond to the (preferably, less obvious) facts it known about (or can infer).
naveen99
Just like multiple choice where a choice is none of the above.
nomilk
Perhaps try placing something around questions that asks ChatGPT to answer only when it's confident? E.g.

> If you're sure of the answer, give the answer to <QUERY>, otherwise say "not sure".

scarface74
I just asked the same question

“Luke Skywalker did not have a problem with Tribbles. The character Luke Skywalker is from the “Star Wars” franchise and tribbles are from the “Star Trek” franchise.

justinhj
It's entire purpose is to generate the text that follows your input, so the responses will never be "I don't know". However if you ask "are you sure about .." or "why did you say ..." then it will say something like "I apologize, I made a mistake." and sometimes expand on the reason why it was wrong.
dandyp
Write a script in which Luke appears in Star Trek and gets into problems with tribbles.

Scene: The USS Enterprise is docked at a space station when Luke Skywalker, dressed in his Jedi robes, steps onto the ship.

Captain Kirk: Welcome aboard the USS Enterprise, Jedi Skywalker. What brings you to our ship?

Luke: I'm on a mission to stop the spread of a dangerous new threat in the galaxy, but I've received reports of strange creatures causing problems on your ship.

Captain Kirk: Ah, you must be referring to the tribbles. They may look cute and harmless, but they're quite a nuisance.

Luke: I've heard they multiply quickly and can clog systems. Is that true?

Captain Kirk: Yes, it is. We've been trying to get rid of them, but they keep coming back.

Suddenly, the ship's alarms start blaring, and a crew member runs onto the bridge.

Crew Member: Captain, we've got a problem in the engine room! The tribbles have taken over the systems!

Captain Kirk: (sighs) This is just what we need. Jedi Skywalker, can you help us?

Luke: Of course. (closes his eyes and concentrates) I sense a disturbance in the Force. I think I can help.

Luke heads to the engine room and uses the Force to move the tribbles away from the systems. However, more and more tribbles keep appearing.

Luke: (frustrated) This is never-ending! How do these creatures keep multiplying so fast?

Captain Kirk: It's their nature. They breed at an astonishing rate.

Luke: (sighs) I'll do what I can to help, but I think I may need some assistance from the Force.

With a determined look on his face, Luke draws his lightsaber and starts slicing through the tribbles, using his mastery of the Force to deflect their attacks. Finally, the tribbles start to retreat, and Luke is able to restore the systems to normal.

Captain Kirk: (impressed) Jedi Skywalker, you have my gratitude. I don't know what we would have done without you.

Luke: (smiling) It was my pleasure. I'm just glad I could help.

Captain Kirk: (smiling) You're welcome on this ship anytime. We could use a Jedi like you on our crew.

Luke: (laughing) I appreciate the offer, Captain, but my path lies elsewhere. May the Force be with you.

The scene ends with Luke departing the USS Enterprise and continuing on his mission, leaving the crew to deal with the aftermath of the tribble infestation.

deadly_syn
Man that gave me a mental image of xwings and tie fighters docking the enterprise. Makes my neardy heart skip a beat.
heavymark
I asked what the current version of Bootstrap Framework was. It said as of it's cut off date, it was a certain version, that seemed slightly off and I regenerated and this time it gave a number that was higher and thus definetly wrong, I said that is wrong. It said it was sorry and that it was wrong and gave another number, (also wrong), I said wrong again, and again confidently provided a new number. GPT-3 is astonishing, at so much and if you know how to use it, and are asking questions in a genhre you know then when it gives you partially wrong info you'll usually know but will still help you along your way. But if asking in areas you don't know and it gives you a wrong answer such as how long and what temp to cook a chicken etc, if it gives you a wrong answer and you don't know better, could be troubling.
jgalt212
Is this a evil plan to get AWS and Azure to use more electricity than the blockchain?
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esamek
Not working for me...

EDIT: Got it to work. Need a paid account and an API key that was generated after you convert a free trial to a paid account.

bcardarella
Do the shortcuts just install on the specific device or will they be available on all devices hooked up to my icloud account? Like my homepod
tonywastaken
They will work on HomePod if you have personal requests enabled on that particular HomePod, which you can do via the Home app.
nomilk
Is there somewhere we can view the source code? (the link leads to an 'Add shortcut' button)
kolchinski
Yep, just click on the three dots over the blue rounded rectangle that says "GPT Mode" and it'll show you!