Presumed Siri voice-actor shows face behind the app

Presumed Siri voice-actor shows face behind the app


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Sandy Springs, GA — For many iPhone users, the soothing and directive voice of Siri has become an almost real-life friend. Siri is a voice-recognition application that was released for the iPhone 4S in 2011. It allows users to enter a voice prompt into the iPhone and receive almost instant, spoken information.

When Susan Bennett recorded a series of software scripts in 2005, she had no idea her voice would one day become recognized around the world. She told CNN in a recent interviewthat she has been doing voice acting work since the 1970s, but never knew the scripts she recorded in 2005 would make her a star, albeit an anonymous one.

“The first time I actually heard my voice as Siri was when my friend emailed me and said, isn’t this you?’,” Bennett told CNN. “Because I didn’t have the newest version of the iPhone, I went to the Apple website, and that’s where I heard the voice and I said ‘Oh! That is me.’.”

Bennet lives in Sandy Springs, Georgia. She said she hasn’t come out publicly earlier because she was unsure initially if the voice was actually hers. Apple, Inc. has yet to confirm Bennett's is the voice of their popular information application.


I heard the voice and I said 'Oh! That is me.'

–Susan Bennet


CNN talked to an audio-forensics expert who touts 30 years of experience. He studied both voices in detail and said he is "100%" assured the two are the same.

Bennett said she kept her discovery a secret until recently but felt that it was time to let the world know who she was.

"I really had to weigh the importance of it for me personally. I wasn't sure that I wanted that notoriety, and I also wasn't sure where I stood legally,” she said. “And so, consequently, I was very conservative about it for a long time."

According to the CNN interview, Bennett was contracted in 2005 by ScanSoft, a software company who found her through a voice talent agency based out of Atlanta. Bennett said she recorded hour after hour of “nonsensical” phrases from her home recording studio.

The words she recorded were then manipulated by audio technicians and run through processors to be used at random for software programs.

"There are some people that just can read hour upon hour upon hour, and it's not a problem. For me, I get extremely bored, so I just take breaks. That's one of the reasons why Siri might sometimes sound like she has a bit of an attitude," Bennett said. "Those sounds might have been recorded the last 15 minutes of those four hours."

The newest Apple mobile opperating system iOS7 is utilizing new voices for the Siri application, meaning Bennett's reign as the voice of Apple's know-it-all program may be coming to an end. She said that's something she's not too worried about, and feels new technology will make roles like hers obsolete.

"I really see a time when you'll probably be able to put your own voice on your phone and have your own voice talk back to you," she said. "Which I'm used to, but maybe you aren't."

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UtahScience
Robynn Garfield

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