Hey, Siri! Meet the real people behind Apple's voice-activated assistant

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.

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
Susan: All of the original Siri voices worldwide came from a bank of digital voices that were recorded in 2005. I recorded four hours a day, five days a week for a month. 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.

Karen: I had an audition. I read the brief and thought: “This is me. This job is mine!” I went to the audition and got the job on the spot!

Jon: The original system was recorded for a US company called Scansoft, who were then bought by Nuance. Apple simply licensed it.

Has there been any contact with Apple?
K: In my best Siri voice: “I’m sorry, I am not authorised to answer that question.”

S: The only contact I’ve had with Apple was sort of second hand. I met Steve Wozniak at a tech conference last year, and his acknowledgement of me as the voice of Siri was very special. He’s a wonderful man, a true genius.

Jon, you have written before that Apple does its “PR with a sledgehammer”…

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J: I contacted them to see if there was anything that I could do to help promote Siri. 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. I was already being recognised.

They were rather dismissive and said that Apple wasn’t all about one person, you know. 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.

Apple are a simply brilliant technology company – but they’re not so brilliant with people. 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?”

Susan Bennett in recording studio
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Susan Bennett, the original American female voice for Siri. Photograph: Susan Bennett
How did you first learn that you were the voice of Siri?
S: Siri was introduced on 4 October 2011, and on that day a fellow voice talent emailed me and said: “Hey, we’re playing around with this new iPhone. Isn’t this you?” So, I went on the Apple site to hear the voice and recognised myself right away. I had a lot of different feelings about it. I was flattered that my voice had been chosen, but it was strange not to have known about it in advance.

J: Rory Cellan-Jones, the BBC’s technology correspondent, was reviewing the phone on BBC Breakfast. I watched it regularly as I was dating one of the presenters back then and I heard him use the Siri function and thought: “I recognise that voice!” How did I feel? Chuffed to bits of course.

Siri Bruce Jenner
Siri, correcting Caitlyn Jenner’s name from Bruce after her transition. Photograph: Apple screenshot
What are others people’s reactions when they find out you are the voice of Siri?
K: They are pretty excited and it really it is a lot of fun. 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!

But I receive the most beautiful messages thanking me for helping someone with driving anxiety, or getting them to a destination they are headed to. It is surreal.

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. Once people know who I am, they freak out a bit. I’m always amazed at how much people relate to her, and basically think of her as a person.

J: Everyone reacts very positively when they discover where they’ve heard my voice before – and it’s across all age ranges. It’s fair to say that the most street cred is gained from those under 20. 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?
K: I feel as if I was the last person to get an iPhone. Our phone company did not offer iPhones for years. The most fun part is seeing my son ask Siri questions, especially when it is my voice answering. When he was younger he seemed frustrated that “mommy in the phone” would not answer him as if she knew him.

S: I do have an iPhone, as does my husband. In fact, our whole house is Mac and Apple. I’ve spoken to Siri a few times. Actually, the first time she kind of dissed me. I asked her what she was doing and she very disgustedly replied: “I’m talking to you!” Hahaha! Talk about attitude, right? But when people ask if I talk to Siri much, I say: “No, I talk to myself enough as it is!”

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Jon Briggs was both the voice of Siri and the Weakest Link.
J: I use Siri to book appointments and send texts as well as asking silly questions. Although I use the female voice rather than my male replacement, as I find the new one a little insipid if I’m honest.

It’s an enormously capable piece of technology and will simply grow in stature and ability as the interface between mankind and technology begins to fade. I have two iPhones, several iPads and an Apple Watch. We ran on Macs in the days when people would look at you sympathetically, as if you had just told them you use an abacus instead of a calculator.

What are the oddest Siri stories people have told you?
K: Oh my goodness. Plenty of Siri stories. Most of the questions they asked are probably best not mentioned in polite company.

J: I’ve met lots of people who have told me that they’ve asked me to marry them via Siri, so I’ve probably received more marriage proposals than any other Englishman. I’m still single incidentally!

Karen – you are a singer and musician. Did you hear about the guy who created a song with the female British Siri rapping?
K: It’s brilliant. My music is more melodic piano-pop but now I am having rap envy. I might just have to do a version myself!

Where else might people recognise your voices from?
K: I’m known as the GPS girl. I’ve ended up in over 400 million GPS and smartphone devices worldwide. I hear from people all the time who want to tell me about the fabulous trips “we” have taken together!

Jon Briggs headphone
Jon Briggs, the original British male voice of Siri. Photograph: Jon Briggs
S: I’ve been a voiceover artist for many years, but I started off as a singer. I was actually the person who sang the jingle about “Tillie the All Time Teller” for First National Bank. It was the first successful ATM in the US. This was before personal computers, and at that time no one trusted getting their money from a machine. I became the persona of the ATM, and suddenly people could relate to the machine, which made it a success. I’m also the voice of Delta Airlines.

J: Back in the early 80s I was on a radio programme called the Chip Shop with Barry Norman. I was the voice of The Weakest Link and I have had my own voice agency for the last 20 years. I’m very proud of both The Weakest Link and Siri – I think it’s an enormous privilege to be the known voice of anything like that, and it’s a great way of breaking the ice with new audiences.

Apple have since changed many of the Siri voices. :-( How does it feel to be replaced as Siri?
S: I was a bit surprised, but everything changes, right? I guess as we head more and more toward artificial intelligence, and Siri becomes “big brother”, I think I’ll be happy that it’s not my voice!

J: Mine was replaced last year. Of course it’s disappointing, but technology constantly moves on. There have been several James Bonds – but there’s only ever one original and there can only ever be one original English voice of Siri.

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