For the last few years millions of Americans have been asking her questions ranging from the intellectual, to the ridiculous; now thanks to CNN, we finally know the face behind the voice of Siri, the iPhone’s virtual assistant.
Her name is Susan Bennett and she’s from Atlanta, Georgia.
There’s been no word from Apple confirming the fact, but an audio forensics expert has examined both speech patterns and has confirmed they are the same.
Bennett never recorded the messages Siri responds with, instead she recorded a series of syllables for ScanSoft back in 2005, a few months later ScanSoft became Nuance Communications, and it is widely believed that Apple purchased the Siri technology from Nuance.
Bennett has recorded thousands of voiceovers since the late 1970s, and her voice has now been replaced in iOS7 — so it’s only those still avoiding the hideous icons in the new OS that can still hear her — however we think it’s as the original voice of Siri that she’ll now be known.
“Yes, I worry about how many times I get cursed every day.” — Susan Bennett, the original voice of Siri
Siri’s most useful function is to run down your battery whilst you try to discover the easter eggs hidden in the responses. Now we have a face to put to the voice, I’m not so sure we’ll be asking the same questions.
What’s the strangest question you’ve ever asked Siri? Did ‘she’ know the answer? Let us know in the comments.