At Apple Korea's office in Samseong-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, on the morning of the 21st, an Apple Korea employee pointed an iPhone 18 camera at a potted plant, and the name "Monstera" appeared on the screen. No separate internet search was needed. The camera recognized the object in front of it, and questions could be asked in a conversational manner. The demonstration showed how Apple's artificial intelligence voice assistant, Siri, is evolving beyond simply responding to voice commands into a smarter assistant that understands surrounding objects and helps with everyday tasks.
Apple demonstrated Siri AI's main features ahead of the rollout of Korean-language support. The company showcased in Korean the personal context understanding, on-screen awareness and app execution functions unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Apple combined Visual Intelligence, which recognizes objects captured by the camera, with Korean-language conversation, allowing users to ask questions about objects in front of them and receive answers.
The camera recognized more than plants. When an Apple Korea employee held up a flyer densely packed with local event schedules, an "Add to Calendar" button appeared on the screen. Tapping it prompted the device to recognize event locations and times and automatically organize multiple entries. Users could select only the schedules they needed or add them all at once.
Siri also retrieved past conversations stored on the iPhone. Asked, "What was the name of the forest trail Jong-ho recommended?" the assistant found "Seonjae-gil in Odaesan" from a message. When followed with "How long is it?" and "Is it fine to walk with children?" Siri understood the context of the earlier exchange and searched the web for relevant information to answer. Apple also demonstrated a feature that turns rambling notes into an email draft with clear action items.
Privacy protections were also strengthened. "Tasks that use personal information such as messages and email are processed on the device, and web servers are used only when external information searches are necessary," Apple said. Conversations with Siri on an iPhone can be continued on other Apple devices such as Mac and iPad.
Integration with major local third-party apps, including KakaoTalk, remains a challenge. Apple expects the number of apps able to use Siri AI to grow as outside developers adopt its published application programming interfaces.
