Being Siri: meet the woman behind Apple's personal assistant – tech podcast

Chips with Everything Series

Imagine waking up one day to find that your voice is programmed into tens of millions of mobile phones without your prior knowledge. For voiceover artist Susan Bennett, in 2011, that was her reality

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In 2005, Atlanta-based voiceover artist Susan Bennett recorded hundreds of hours of audio for a text-to-speech company. Six years later, on 4 October 2011, she quickly learned that those recordings had been licensed by Apple for the iPhone 4S’s built-in personal assistant, Siri. Overnight, Susan’s voice became globally recognised, whether she liked it or not.

In this week’s episode of Chips with Everything, Matt Shore speaks to Susan about her experiences of being thrust into the world of Siri and how her life has changed since that fateful day.

The Apple iPhone 4s Is Released Worldwide<br>LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 14:  A man uses 'Siri' on the new iPhone 4S after being one of the first customers in the Apple store in Covent Garden on October 14, 2011 in London, England. The widely anticipated new mobile phone from Apple has seen customers queue in cities around the world for hours to be amongst the first to buy the device.    (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images
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