Siri Australia:Karen Jacobsen, Siri UK: Jon Briggs and Siri USA: Susan Bennett.
Photograph: courtesy Karen Jacobsen/Jon Briggs/Susan Bennett
Posted on 08/12/2015 7:03:15 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Many of us are familiar with Apple’s iOS assistant – but have you ever thought about the lives behind the voice that answers your queries and requests?
Apple 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. 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.
Since then Siri has become a firm favourite and often hits the news – for good and bad. 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).
There are both male and female variations of Siri, and different versions the world over – but who are the real people behind the voices?
We tracked three Siris down. Jon Briggs, who is also the voice of The Weakest Link, was the first British male voice for Siri. Susan Bennett is familiar as the American female Siri – as well as the the voice of Delta Airlines. 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. 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
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Saw Susan Bennett as Siri on an episode of “The Jack & Triumph [the Insult Dog] Show” on Adult Swim earlier this year. Funny series filmed in front of a live audience.
Siri has an attitude and is sometimes petulant. Often we go round and round at night. Better than arguing with my wife; she won’t participate.
I have found SIRI to be totally useless. She believes Bruce Jenner is a girl, so why should I be surprised?
The episode about Raj using SIRI on his new phone is one of my favorite Big Bangs.
Q. Siri, what color are your eyes.
A. That’s a fine question. Now let’s get back to work.
Do “trans rights” have anything to do with the right to eat trans fats? If so, that’s kinda cool but it’s also gonna be a problem for michelle and the rest of the food nazis.
Not if you ask the right question. Ask Siri which "sex" Bruce Jenner is and the answer came back "male" on a Google Search. . . but asked which "gender" Bruce Jenner is the answer came back "female." That particular answer came from WolframAlpha. . . and changes the name to Caitlyn Jenner on the display. Both responses are web based answers. . . not from something programed into Siri. So ask Siri another way and it comes up male. . . depending on how the question is asked and where the answer source comes from. Google sometimes comes up with female and sometimes comes up with male. Jenner is, shall we say, conflicted, so Siri's answer is too. . . Give Google time and they will bowdlerize the rest of the WWW.
Unfortunately, I don't think it has anything to do with diet. . . unless it's something else they may be putting in their oral cavities.
Very Interesting.
Every now and then if I am in a silly mood, I ask Siri to tell me a joke. She has a few groaners.
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
I laughed a lot at her answer.
Ok. That was a good one . I asked her the second time to repeat it and she said, “you humans say the darnedest things”
Swordmaker, perhaps you can help me with a problem.
Whenever I use Siri in a message the entire passage is often underlined which means that I can’t just highlight one word for a fix.
Because let’s face it, often Siri is just plain wrong.
Tap a finger anywhere to clear the selection and then deselect what you want to change, or cancel and try dictating again. I suspect Siri is going to have a major improvement in iOS 9. She's great with Apple Watch, very accurate.
Next purchase is going to be an Apple Watch. I don’t care if I upgrade to an iPhone 6 at this point
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