You know the voice of Siri, the smart voice assistant feature for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Susan Bennett is the voice actor behind the voice-assistant program. CNN confirmed the claim by working with an audio forensics expert who claimed they are 100% postive it was Bennett’s voice.
Susan Bennett’s work
Her story goes back to 2005 when she was asked to recite various phrases, words, and non-sensical things in her home studio. For about a month, she recorded four hours every day. She supplied the audio tracks for a project with ScanSoft, which was originally a large computer speech applications company that eventually merged with Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN). Earlier in 2013, Nuance’s technology is part of the voice assistant. According to Apple Insider, “Ricci explained that Nuance does not handle Siri’s artificial intelligence layers, only the voice recognition. Further, Ricci said that Siri has both embedded and cloud technology for voice recognition, but that the feature is overall a cloud solution.”
In 2011, Siri came out. A friend of hers contacted her to point out that her voice sounded just like Siri’s.
Siri’s voice actor not confirmed by Apple
Of course, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) hasn’t confirmed whether it was Bennett’s voice or not. It’s common industry practice not to reveal faces behind specific products. This is to keep the focus on the product.
Apple Insider added, “Two other Siri voice actors have previously been identified. British journalist Jon Briggs reportedly provided the voice behind Siri’s United Kingdom version while Australian singer and actor Karen Jacobsen is believed to have played the same role in Australia. “
Bennett’s talent goes beyond Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s popular app. She also done voice-over recordings for airline companies like Delta, GPS devices, and ATM machines. Although users now have the choice to use a male voice for the application, Bennett isn’t too concerned about fading into obscurity.
It’s interesting to hear about the voice behind Siri and how it happened.
