Who Is Siri?
Siri is Apple’s voice assistant that works across all Apple devices, including Macs and iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads. It was first introduced in 2010 and integrated into the iPhone 4S. Although reports have emerged about who it might have been in the past, the voice’s identity is a secret. Since iOS 11, Apple has used new voices and recorded several hours of speech, encompassing different personalities and expressions to make it sound more human and natural with its responses. While there was never any confirmation from Apple regarding the source of earlier voices, we knew from interviews with voiceover artists. Right now, there’s no indication as to who the voices are at this time.
What Does Siri Stand For?
Siri stands for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface, but it also has some extra meaning. The name Siri in Norse means “beautiful woman who leads you to victory,” while in Swahili, it means “secret.” Having a few different meanings captures the spirit of Siri quite well, demonstrating how it’s both speech interpretation and an attempt at a form of AI within your phone.
What Happened to the Original Siri Voice?
Susan Bennett, a voiceover artist and former backing singer for Roy Orbison and Burt Bacharach, is thought to be the original American voice of Siri. According to Bennett, she recorded the voice in 2005 without knowing that she would one day become a massively popular voice assistant. Apple has never confirmed the story but nor has it denied it. All we do know is that if Bennett was the voice of Siri, this ceased to be the case when Apple released iOS 7 in September 2013. The Guardian interviewed Jon Briggs, a former technology journalist who was the original British male voice. The first Australian voice was voiceover artist Karen Jacobsen. There’s no information on their possible identities of other voices provided for other countries and regions.
How Much Does Siri Get Paid?
According to Bennett, she had no contract with Apple and no idea the company would use her recordings for Siri. That’s because Siri was developed based on recording sessions she did with another company. Because she had no contract, that meant she didn’t get paid by Apple directly for the work, although the original company would have paid her. Supposedly, she’s not alone either, with Bennett believing that Apple didn’t pay any of the original Siris for the usage. It’s unknown if Apple pays the current Siri voices in any way.
