Why it's so important Apple takes Siri to the next level

In the race to build the ultimate personal voice assistant, Apple had a running start. But instead of running hard for the past five years, Apple slowed into a steady trot, seemingly unconcerned about the competitors hot on its heels. Now Apple and Siri are at risk of being lapped, and the only hope for future dominance in the fast-growing voice and artificial-intelligence space rests firmly on whatever Apple CEO Tim Cook says during Monday's upcoming Worldwide Developers conference keynote. SEE ALSO: Siri will get a big makeover at Apple's WWDC show "If they don't turn the crank this year and wait another year, I'm really concerned," Forrester Research VP & Principal Analyst Frank Gillett said. In other words, 2016 needs to be a big, turning-point kind of year for Siri.