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What Siri foretells for the future of semantic search

Siri is a step forward for iOS users who can use the virtual assistant to set reminders and send messages, but for developer and entrepreneur Ndav Gur, Siri represents more. "Siri has made strong headway into literally understanding you (voice to text) but more importantly about deriving meaning from what a user has just said," Gur writes in a recent TechCrunch post.

What makes Siri exciting is its ability to support natural language now and semantic search in the future. Semantic search moves us away from keyword-based search and into queries based on concepts. Using semantic search, users get knowledge as a result, instead of just information. It's like asking about the weather and getting advice on what to wear, instead of just the local temperature.

Siri is ahead of the game in this arena and is such an "existential threat" to Google's keyword search that Google has recently announced that it's working on its own semantic search algorithm. Gur is the founder and CEO of Desti, a company that created its own virtual personal assistant for travelers. You can read more about Siri and semantic search in his guest post on TechCrunch.