Siri sends users who ask for prostitutes to Toronto bar
Co-owner of Meltdown eSports Bar says he has been getting late-night calls since November
People will use Siri to find almost anything. She just might not give them the right directions.
Apple’s voice-activated search function has been directing Toronto users who ask about prostitutes to a Little Italy bar that, owners say, is definitely not a place to find them.
Alvin Acyapan, co-owner of Meltdown eSports Bar on College St. near Ossington Ave., says he began receiving mysterious late-night calls shortly after the establishment’s grand opening in November.
Each time Acyapan answered, there was a voice on the other end, asking for an escort.
“I thought people were getting the wrong number or maybe it was a prank by someone listing our phone number on some unscrupulous website,” said Acyapan, whose personal cellphone doubles as the business’s main phone line.
Finally, on Sunday, a caller asking after “prostitutes” revealed that Siri had given him Acyapan’s number.
In a series of tests, the Star asked Siri to find “prostitutes,” “escorts” and “hookers,” and was given Meltdown’s name, address, phone number and location on a map, each time.
Meltdown is a so-called “eSports” bar, a place where patrons play and watch video games and compete in tournaments.
Acyapan said he and the other owners guessed the mix-up may have been caused by the similarity of the words “eSports” and “escorts.”
“It’s only one letter difference,” he said.
Acyapan contacted Apple tech support via email and on Twitter but had not heard back as of Tuesday afternoon.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment from the Star.
How exactly Siri works is purposefully kept a mystery, technology analyst Carmi Levy said.
“The algorithm that powers Siri is very much like the algorithm that powers Google, and the secret spices KFC uses in its chicken. If they give those recipes up, what makes those products and services special will no longer be special,” Levy said.
“It reinforces the dangers that we face as these products become more pervasive.”
As services like Siri and Google become more pervasive, glitches are going to have a greater impact, Levy added.
“Unfortunately, our only resource is to identify them, submit them to Apple and then hope that the company does something about them.”
Acyapan said he’s not ready to change his number yet.
“I see the humour in it,” Acyapan said of Siri’s slip-up. “I always thought of it as a funny anecdote to share with my friends: ‘Hey, we run a bar and sometimes I get this kind of call.’ ”