By Chuck Woodbury
ROADSIDE JOURNAL
If you own an iPhone, you know Siri. She’s the female voice that you consult with to ask questions.
You might ask, is she a real person? Yes, she is. How old do you think she was when she recorded the Siri Voice? Would you guess 24, 33, 47 or 56? The answer is at the bottom of this story.
But right now. Stop reading and guess Siri’s age … okay, now go on.
Siri’s real name is Susan Bennett. She’s a voice actor who lives in Atlanta. She recorded the voice of Siri in 2005. She had no idea what the voice would be used for.
For four hours a day during the entire month of July, she read hundreds of phrases and sentences that enabled Apple to pull out vowels, consonants, syllables and diphthongs; before playing with her pitch and speed. Then, in 2011, a friend of hers heard Siri for the time and she and Susan put two and two together and knew it was her.
“There are some people that just can read hour upon hour upon hour, and it’s not a problem,” Bennett told CNN. “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.”
Today, she speaks in commercials and on countless phone systems. She also spells out directions from GPS devices, and greets travelers in Delta airport terminals.
Okay, so how old was Bennett when she recorded Siri’s voice? 56. So that makes Siri a senior citizen by some definitions. Who would think?
Watch the video and see what happens when she asks Siri a question.
Great article, and so much fun to learn about this woman, the voice of Siri. Thanks!
I’ve talked several time to Susan Bennet on Twitter. And have followed her for years.
Great report Chuck, thanks for sharing this/ her story!