Original Siri Voice for iPhone 4s Speaks in Person [VIDEO]
The real voice, or rather, the woman behind the voice of Apple's Siri reveals herself in an interview with CNN.
In September 2013, tech-news site The Verge, posted a video titled: "How Siri found its voice." This video sparked misinterpretations that the featured voiceover talent, Allison Dufty, was Siri. But she was quick to clarify that she is "absolutely, positively NOT the voice of Siri."
In the wake of confusion and media hype over false information, Susan Bennett, decided to reveal herself.
"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. And so, consequently, I was very conservative about it for a long time. And then this Verge video came out ... And it seemed like everyone was clamouring to find out who the real voice behind Siri is, and so I thought, well, you know, what the heck? This is the time," Ms Bennett told CNN.
Her UK and Australian counterpart had revealed themselves long time ago.
As for Ms Bennett, she came face-to-face with her voice as Siri in October 2011 following the release of Apple iPhone 4s. Ms Bennett shared that she does not have the device and it was her friends and family who recognised her voice when they bought the iPhone 4s model at that time.
"A colleague e-mailed me [about Siri] and said, 'Hey, we've been playing around with this new Apple phone. Isn't this you?'", Ms Bennett shared.
Ms Bennett then browsed from Apple's Web site and listened to video clips announcing Siri. Right there and then she knew it was her voice.
"Oh, I knew. It's obviously me. It's my voice," Ms Bennett shared fondly.
Talking to Siri
Ms Bennett then upgraded her phone and talked to Siri for the first time. She shared she was "a little horrified" but was totally overwhelmed with the idea that she was a part of a huge technological advancement.
Being the real voice behind Siri, she said she had to be nice with Siri as she knew that she had been cursed a lot of times in a day buy frustrated users. Even if Ms Bennett was frustrated at Siri herself, she never yelled at Siri.
"But I never yell at her -- very bad karma. Yes, I worry about how many times I get cursed every day," Ms Bennett said.
With the Apple iOS 7, Ms Bennett acknowledged that there will be a new voice to Siri. Although admittedly she was a little sad about this, she said that evolution is important to technology. In fact, Ms Bennett thinks that putting the users' own voice as Siri voice might be possible in the future.
"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. Which I'm used to, but maybe you aren't."
Son of Siri
Ms Bennett's son, whom she fondly called "Son of Siri" was one of the people who prodded her to reveal her identity.
Camron Bennett shared that he knew it was his mom's voice the very first time he chanced upon an iPhone 4s commercial on TV.
Owning an iPhone 4s himself, he said that it was like talking to his mom every minute. He had at one point yelled "Mom Stop!" at his device when Siri was nagging him about a GPS feature.
"Her voice has been everywhere throughout my life. I'd call my bank while I was in college in Colorado, and it was my mom telling me I had $4. She's part of history. It was funny trying to explain to her how big it was. She uses her cell phone for 8% of what it can do."