Every so often, Siri goes to a very Zen place, which can be a little frustrating when you’re in a hurry.

Last weekend, I needed to mail a letter to Canada. I wasn’t sure how much postage it needed, but Siri was within reach. So I asked.

Me: What is first class postage from the US to Canada?
Siri: I didn’t find any meetings about ‘postage from the US to Canada’ between today and September 8, 2014.

I paused, roll of stamps in hand, to contemplate this answer. Why was she telling me about meetings? Was there something I needed to know about upcoming meetings, and this was her way of raising the topic? Why was September 8 significant? What will happen on 9/8?

As intriguing as this mystery was, I soon realized that unraveling Siri’s riddle still wouldn’t actually address my postage problem.

Upon further reflection, I realized that I had phrased the question poorly – I didn’t really want to know what the postage is; after all, I already know what postage is. I just didn’t know how much to use. I rephrased the question with more precision.

Me: How much is first class postage from the US to Canada?
Siri: It looks like the answer is about 70000 mile US cents.

I put 2 first-class stamps on the letter.  And I completely stopped worrying about AI taking over the world.

Another Sirreal Conversation by Ed Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.