In fact, our whole house is Mac and Apple. S: I do have an iPhone, as does my husband. When he was younger he seemed frustrated that “mommy in the phone” would not answer him as if she knew him. The most fun part is seeing my son ask Siri questions, especially when it is my voice answering. Our phone company did not offer iPhones for years. K: I feel as if I was the last person to get an iPhone. And, interestingly enough, when it was changed last year, there was a Twitter campaign to get me reinstated – so they must have liked me! When my son was younger he seemed frustrated that 'mommy in the phone' would not answer him as if she knew him Karen Jacobsen Do you all own iPhones – and do you speak to Siri? It’s fair to say that the most street cred is gained from those under 20. J: Everyone reacts very positively when they discover where they’ve heard my voice before – and it’s across all age ranges. I’m always amazed at how much people relate to her, and basically think of her as a person. Once people know who I am, they freak out a bit. S: People don’t usually recognise my voice, because my everyday speaking voice isn’t as deep as Siri’s and the meter of the speech is different. Mostly they want me to record a message for their kids to tell them to brush their teeth, go to bed when they are told to, and to listen to their parents!īut I receive the most beautiful messages thanking me for helping someone with driving anxiety, or getting them to a destination they are headed to. K: They are pretty excited and it really it is a lot of fun. Photograph: Apple screenshot What are others people’s reactions when they find out you are the voice of Siri? Siri, correcting Caitlyn Jenner’s name from Bruce after her transition. If you put someone’s voice in millions of people’s pockets without warning, I’m not sure what you expect that person to say when people ask: “is it you?” Given that this was about three months after the very sad death of Steve Jobs, who was definitely the one person that Apple was all about, it was all a little strange.Īpple are a simply brilliant technology company – but they’re not so brilliant with people. They were rather dismissive and said that Apple wasn’t all about one person, you know. I never went public about being the voice of Siri myself, but having been the voice of BBC Radio 2 for 13 years and the voice of the Weakest Link, I am a fairly well known voice over artist. J: I contacted them to see if there was anything that I could do to help promote Siri. Jon, you have written before that Apple does its “PR with a sledgehammer”… I met Steve Wozniak at a tech conference last year, and his acknowledgement of me as the voice of Siri was very special. S: The only contact I’ve had with Apple was sort of second hand. K: In my best Siri voice: “I’m sorry, I am not authorised to answer that question.” Jon: The original system was recorded for a US company called Scansoft, who were then bought by Nuance. This job is mine!” I went to the audition and got the job on the spot! I read the brief and thought: “This is me. The process is called concatenation, and the reason the original Siri was so iconic is because she was the first concatenated voice to actually sound human. I recorded four hours a day, five days a week for a month. Susan: All of the original Siri voices worldwide came from a bank of digital voices that were recorded in 2005. How does one become the voice of Siri? Apple are a simply brilliant technology company – but they’re not so brilliant with people Jon Briggs We find out what it’s like to be in the pockets of millions – and what it’s like to answer the world’s questions. And Karen Jacobsen is famous in Australia as the “GPS girl” – but her son still finds it strange to talk to a version of her that is trapped in a phone. Susan Bennett is familiar as the American female Siri – as well as the the voice of Delta Airlines. Jon Briggs, who is also the voice of The Weakest Link, was the first British male voice for Siri. There are both male and female variations of Siri, and different versions the world over – but who are the real people behind the voices? Siri has befriended an autistic child, been accused of homophobia, fought for trans rights, mocked maths dunces, come out as a talented rapper and possibly inspired a Spike Jonze film (which Siri did not appreciate). Since then Siri has become a firm favourite and often hits the news – for good and bad. Users of iOS have had the privilege of Siri’s help since its introduction as part of iOS 5 for the iPhone 4S in 2011, and the function was also added to the third-generation iPads a year later. A pple users are all familiar with Siri, the company’s voice-activated personal assistant that helps out with everything from speed dialling, scheduling meetings and searching for directions.