I have a confession to make: I always thought that my “virtual assistant”, “Siri” was a robot—a disembodied voice created through digital technology.
Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant for iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS devices that use voice recognition and are powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Such technologies–Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant– that have become an integral part of our families, so to speak–are excellent examples of conversational AI. AI bots like them are more advanced than regular chatbots that are programmed with answers to certain questions.
I never even considered the possibility that Siri’s voice might be that of a human, so imagine my surprise when I found out that the original “Siri” voice belonged to an actual human being named Susan Bennett, a voice actor.
Bennett says she landed a career as a voice actor by accident and started out singing jingles for ads. She made recordings for a software company called ScanSoft in 2005, unaware that Apple would one day purchase and use them for Siri years later. She became the first iteration of “Siri” when the technology was released in 2011.
Apple has never publicly acknowledged or compensated Bennett and that means that she was not required to sign a non-disclosure agreement that would prevent her from talking about the gig and telling the world how it happened that she became the voice heard in millions of households.
“I got into voiceover acting by accident. I used to sing jingles for commercials, and I worked out of a few studios in Atlanta. One day, while I was there recording, a voice actor for another commercial didn’t show up” Bennett explained.
When they finished with the song, the owner of the studio said, “Susan, you don’t have an accent. Come over here and record this copy.” That launched her on a voice acting career. Then, in 2005 she unknowingly did the Siri recordings.
“I got a gig to record for the IVR (interactive voice response) company ScanSoft, now called Nuance. I thought the script would consist of regular IVR sayings, like ‘Thanks for calling,’ or ‘Please dial one.’ Instead, I had to read nonsensical sentences like ‘Cow hoist in the tug hut today’ or ‘Say shift fresh issue today’ — they were trying to get all of the sound combinations in the English language. They also had me read the names of addresses and streets.”
This was no short gig, Bennett recorded from home four hours a day, five days a week for the entire month of July.
Six years later, she got an email from a fellow voice actor who was playing around with his new iPhone when he recognized her voice. This came as a complete surprise to Bennet, who had not been notified by Apple that her voice had been adopted in the latest technological innovation. .
Bennett’s career didn’t begin and end with Siri, you’ve most likely heard her voice in many other places too: “I’ve been featured on TV shows, given a TEDx Talk, and spoken on the radio. It’s not something I ever would’ve seen myself doing 15 years ago, but it’s been really fun.”
She is also the voice of the Delta Airlines gate announcements at Atlanta airport. “I tell my friends all the time, always keep an ear out for my voice when you’re watching TV!” she says.
Bennett regretfully says that she stopped being Siri when they updated the voices. “The original was a little snarky, in a fun way — they gave her a great sense of humor and a sharp wit. I think a lot of people talked to her just to see what she would say. Now, Siri sounds a little more bland to me” she says.
And one question is inevitable: how did she herself feel about talking to Siri? “I never talked to Siri when she had my voice — it was just too weird,” Ms. Bennet says.
