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The Ethical Issues of Privacy, Manipulation, and Dependency Associated With Appl

e’ Product Siri

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The Ethical Issues of Privacy, Manipulation, and Dependency Associated With Appl

e’ Product Siri

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now incorporated in many modern products and is affecting

every facet of life. Nowadays, viewers are inundated by numerous advertisements on television

and other media platforms highlighting products with life-changing capabilities (Siau & Wang,

2020). For example, Apple Inc. is now making products that use AI to help individuals perform

day to day work. Apple’s Siri uses an AI technology platform to assist users to organize

themselves, thus adding convenience to everyday existence. The product has led to intense

debate regarding its mixed impacts on users. Although it has significantly improved many

aspects of life, Siri has nonetheless raised important ethical issues such as privacy, over-

dependency, social values, and manipulation.

Apple is one of the most innovative firms that have incorporated AI technology in their

products and software. One of its innovative products, Siri, has positively impacted on the lives

of users by providing a faster, easier way to do all kinds of useful things (Apple, 2020).The

technology can simultaneously perform multiple tasks such as set alarms, timers, and reminders

without the input of the user. The technology uses AI to anticipate the intention of users, thus

essentially playing the role of decision-maker. However, while Siri is an important addition to an

individual’s life, Apple cannot easily develop this product ethically because it eavesdrop

conversations, undermine humanity, manipulate users, creates a dependency on technology, and

harm human relations. To develop the product ethically, Apple needs to limit the amount of

information that Siri can collect from users. This way, Apple will not have to contend with the

ethical question of illegal collection of users’ data, which may amount to spying. However, the
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company has launched a campaign to plead its innocence against the allegations of spying

(Nakedsecurity.com, 2028). Through visual campaigns such as one depicted in image 1, the tech

giant has gone some way in restoring the trust of its consumers.

Image 1: Apple has moved to allay fears that Siri is a spying app. Source:

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2018/08/13/siri-is-listening-to-you-but-shes-not-spying-says-

apple/

Critics have regarded the Siri as an eavesdropping technology. According to Dedvukaj

(2019), Apple's Siri can easily be activated by “something as mundane as the sound of a zipper”

(par. 1), thus leaving any conversation between individuals open to surveillance. Thus, users may

lose important personal data such as location and contact details, whether one is talking to a

personal doctor or a business partner. Thus, despite the numerous benefits that come with owing

the device, it can give away important information to unauthorized parties such as those that deal

in consumer products. Although Apple has a policy that prohibits sharing of personal data with

third parties, one may fear that such information may be leaked illegally to marketers of

consumer products. In recent years, users have expressed their concern about the role of Siri as a

personal assistant that can record and store words (Kotia & Bharti, 2019 par. 4). Siri’s

eavesdropping capability is so enhanced that it records users’ data even when they are not

talking. From an ethical perspective, eavesdropping on someone’s conversation is malicious and

is no different from data theft (Brey, 2012 p. 3).On its part, Apple has claimed that this

information is primarily used for advertisements rather than for sharing with third parties (Apple,
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2020). In fact, the company, as a matter of policy, does not share customer data with third parties

such as marketers of consumer products. However, with tech giants forging strong bonds with

regulators, users should increasingly become concerned with having their privacy sacrificed for

corporate profits. Overcoming this ethical issue is tricky because the technology is not designed

to automatically seek consent from users in the same way a human would do. To a significant

extent, Siri represents a significant ethical issue because it infringes on users’ right to privacy.

Image 2: An illustration of Siri’s invasive capability. Source:

https://africa.businessinsider.com/tech/an-apple-whistleblower-has-publicly-decried-the-

company-for-violating-fundamental/jw92ph0

The Apple Siri undermines important human values such as socialization and trust

because users trust the technology more than friends or family members. Users reveal most of

their information to the technology because of its accuracy and the assurance that it would never

fail. On a positive note, the technology enables humans to organize themselves in ways that

would have been unimaginable a few decades ago. However, this benefit comes at a great cost to

human value of trust on each other. For example, users may be reluctant to use the application

for fear that it would divulge important information to unauthorized parties such as marketers of

consumer products. As Kotia and Bharti (2019) reflect, the technology reveals the most

indefinite aspects of human character. While technology is critical in life, it should not come at
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the expense of important values such as trust that binds people together. Apple, therefore, must

contend with the ethical issue of whether to continue producing the technology, even though it

comes at huge expense to humanity. For example, the company should modify the app and make

it less intrusive in order to cultivate users’ confidence and trust. According to Kotia and Bharti

(2019), humans should confide with friends and families more than with “faceless technologies

(par. 3), a viewpoint that may not be lost on Apple. However, the company has argued that the

technology has served as a reliable “personal assistant” for human, making them more effective

before.

Image 3: An illustration of Siri’s capability of performing even the most mundane tasks. Source:

https://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/04/28/apple-purchases-virtual-assistant-app-siri/

Apple’s Siri is an invisible manipulator, as its addictive nature compels users to explore

for infinite possibilities. Its addiction comes from the fact that users become fascinated and

obsessed by its seemingly unlimited capabilities as ‘personal assistants’. Every day, humans are

inundated with decisions of varying importance. While every decision matters, the choices that

people make impact them in various ways. According to Hill and White (2020), inconsequential

decisions such as the choice of clothes or whether to go to work are not being made by AI

technologies such as Siri, an indicative of their growing manipulative powers when it comes to

decision making. However, Apple has argued that AI technology eases the burden of making
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complex decisions such as in business, politics, and careers. Studies have shown that the human

brain is self-sufficient for making the big decisions in life (Greenfield & Gillespie-Lynch, 2008).

Therefore, AI technologies such as Siri have only contributed to manipulating humans by

making them think make decisions they would not ordinarily make. In addition, AI has been

designed to distort the essence of human experience in order to create an opportunity for

profiteering (Siau & Wang, 2020). For example, Apple knows that humans would become overly

dependent on Siri and therefore, would not be able to function without the app. This dependency

provides an opportunity for sale of more products. Instead, humans have increasingly relied on

automatic personal assistants such as Siri to control aspects such as daily schedule of

appointments or fitness regime. From an ethical perspective, large profit-making tech giants such

as Apple can use their vast resources to make innovative products that consumers cannot resist.

Evidently, Apple is least concerned about human beings losing relevance.

From a personal perspective, Siri denies users the much needed personal space. For

example, I am unable to do even the most mundane tasks such as setting reminders for an

important event without using the app. As most users would agree, human beings are, by their

very nature, social animals. Therefore, the ability to break free from human dependence can be

viewed a superhuman quality. According to Lincoln (2000), society and social interactions are

important because they enable people to create an identity. Regardless of technological advances,

no innovation can replicate the essence of a face-to-face conversation between humans. Apple’s

Siri technology has threatened to undermine the value of interpersonal relationships by providing

a platform such as Siri which users will spend too much using at the expense of talking to their

friends. From an ethical perspective, the emergence of Siri was purely motivated by a need to

undermine social interactions between people while increasing interactions with the app.
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Researchers have established that people who use AI technologies such as Siri as personal

organizers are less likely to interact with each other compared to their counterparts who do not

use the devices (Brüggemeier et al., 2020). The more the technology becomes a substitute for

human interactions, the more Apple would continue to profit.

Siri makes people to be dependent on machines in a classic master-slave relationship.

Although such a comparison may sound extreme, it is more or less true, especially when

considered from an ethical perspective. Users develop a mindset that personal assistants imitate a

real human being. However, Apple has claimed that its voice assistant making people dependent

on machines is accidental, and that human retain the choice to use the technology (Brüggemeier

et al., 2020). However, there is no denying the fact that Apple has capitalized on the modern

trends in which people have become increasingly busier, leaving them with little option than rely

to automated assistants.

Conclusively, Apple cannot ethically continue making Siri because of the technology’s

ethical implications on numerous facets of life. The technology exposes users to eavesdroppers,

as their conversations are no longer private. Siri also makes users to eschew interpersonal

interactions, thus undermining important human values. In addition, the technology has

effectively undermined the ability by humans to utilize their ability to make decisions even on

the most mundane things.

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References

Apple. (2020). Siri. Retrieved February 20, 2021, from https://www.apple.com/siri/

Brey, P. A. (2012). Anticipating ethical issues in emerging IT. Ethics and Information

Technology, 14(4), 305-317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-012-9293-y

Brüggemeier, B., Breiter, M., Kurz, M., & Schiwy, J. (2020). User experience of Alexa, Siri and

Google assistant when controlling music – Comparison of four questionnaires. Lecture

Notes in Computer Science, 600-618. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60114-0_40

Dedvukaj, T. (2019, July 29). Apple’s Siri is eavesdropping on your conversations, putting

users at risk: Report. Fox Business. Retrieved February 20, 2021, from

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/apples-siri-is-eavesdropping-on-your-

conversations-putting-users-at-risk

Greenfield, P. M., & Gillespie-Lynch, K. (2008). Intersubjectivity evolved to fit the brain, but

grammar Co-evolved with the brain. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31(5), 523-524.

https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x08005141

Hill, K., & White, J. (2020, December 28). Designed to deceive: Do these people look real to

you? The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos.

Retrieved February 20, 2021, from

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/21/science/artificial-intelligence-fake-

people-faces.html

Kotia, J., & Bharti, R. (2019, August 26). AI ethics: Personal assistants like Alexa, Siri and

Google home. Medium. Retrieved February 20, 2021, from

https://medium.com/%C3%A9clair%C3%A9/ai-ethics-personal-assistants-like-alexa-

siri-and-google-home-d54ba05dadd3
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Lincoln, K. D. (2000). Social support, negative social interactions, and psychological well‐

being. Social Service Review, 74(2), 231-252. https://doi.org/10.1086/514478

Nakedsecurity.com. (2018, August 13). Siri is listening to you, but she’s NOT spying, says

Apple. Naked Security. Retrieved March 19, 2021, from

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2018/08/13/siri-is-listening-to-you-but-shes-not-

spying-says-apple/

Siau, K., & Wang, W. (2020). Artificial intelligence (AI) ethics. Journal of Database

Management, 31(2), 74-87. https://doi.org/10.4018/jdm.2020040105