Reddit | engineerforthefuture, Reddit

Siri Gives 13-Year-Old A List Of Nearby Schools After He Threatens School Shooting

Updated September 5, 2021

Recently, it seems as though Apple's products have found a way to suffer glitches in the most embarrassing ways possible for the company.

If the fact that they had to disable Group Facetime because a bug let potential callers see and hear people before they even answered wasn't bad enough, it seems that even the AI assistant Siri isn't safe from potential PR nightmares.

And this became clear during an ill-advised stunt that caused a distressing situation.

Our story begins with a statement that nobody wants to hear.

Reddit | engineerforthefuture

According to a Facebook post by police in Valparaiso, Indiana, a 13-year-old told Siri "I am going to shoot up a school."

While there could be any number of ways that the assistant could appropriately respond to that, what the youth actually received wasn't one of them.

Siri, apparently detecting nothing amiss about this message, simply gave the boy a list of schools that were closest to his location.

Reddit | downvoteforwhy

The boy was apparently visiting family in Valparaiso, so none of the schools listed were the one he attended.

Whether the boy expected this response or not, he clearly found it funny enough to share.

Reddit | Sniper61119

So he took a screenshot of Siri's reply and posted it on an undisclosed social media feed to what he apparently assumed would be the delight of his friends.

That's right, the whole exchange was apparently done as a joke and he had no real intention of planning a school shooting.

YouTube | Movieclips

However, some of his followers clearly didn't find it anywhere near as funny as he did. Fearing that he could be making a serious threat, they contacted police in his hometown of Chesterton.

When Valparaiso police were made aware of the situation, they launched an investigation.

Reddit | Crimtide

Fortunately, it seems that they found enough reason to conclude that the 13-year-old did post the implied threat as a joke.

However, their post also reminded citizens that "these types of communications are taken very seriously by the Valparaiso Police Department and our community."

Part of what tipped them off that this wasn't a real threat was the fact that the youth didn't threaten any specific person, school, or school system.

During their investigation, they also discovered that the boy did not have any access to the weapons he would need to carry out his threat.

Nonetheless, the 13-year-old was still arrested in connection with the incident.

Reddit | tone_is_everything

He was charged with intimidation and is now detained at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center.

In all likelihood, the price of being edgy in the wrong setting has now become clear to him.

Although the youth's actions are likely to inspire disappointed groans, it's still worrying that Siri apparently didn't recognize such an explicit statement.

Reddit | [deleted]

It would be unreasonable to conclude that Apple has any desire whatsoever in facilitating mass shootings, but if the context of this story were slightly different, that is clearly what their product would have been doing.

h/t: Facebook | Valparaiso Police Department

Filed Under: