Susan Bennett, the original U.S. voice actor for Siri, may not be a household name, but her voice is certainly recognizable. Back in October 2011, when the iPhone 4s was first introduced, Bennett’s voice became synonymous with Apple’s digital assistant. In a recent interview with CNN’s Laura Coates, she shared some fascinating insights into her unexpected journey as the voice of Siri.

Here are some key points from Bennett’s interview:

– Bennett was recorded by a company that later became Nuance, where she spent hours making nonsensical sounds and phrases that were manipulated to create the iconic Siri voice.
– She only realized she was the voice of Siri in 2011 when a fellow voice actor pointed it out to her while playing with the iPhone 4s.
– Despite being the original voice of Siri, Bennett revealed that she and other early voices did not receive compensation from Apple. However, subsequent voices did get paid for their contributions.
– The recent controversy between OpenAI and Scarlett Johansson over imitating voices for digital assistants like “Sky” has brought attention to the art of voice acting for AI technology.

Looking ahead, we can expect significant updates to Siri during Apple’s WWDC Keynote on June 10th. The event will showcase Apple’s latest AI initiatives and likely include enhanced features for Siri.

For more insights from Susan Bennett herself, you can watch her interview starting at the 1:43 mark in the embedded YouTube video above.

Stay tuned for more exciting developments in the world of digital assistants like Siri as technology continues to evolve rapidly.