If you've Googled me, you might be wondering "What's the deal with Siri?"
In 2013, I was interviewed by the tech blog, The Verge,
for a behind-the-scenes feature video and article on what it takes to
make a computer
voice. The finished video was thoughtful, informative and beautifully
produced. Unfortunately, it was headlined "How Siri
Found Its Voice."
While catchy, this title made it easy for viewers to miss that the piece was
about the HOW and not the WHO of Siri, or any other synthesized voice. There are many computer voices out there, and I am one of them, just not that
one.
Nowhere in the video or article did it say
that I was the voice of Siri,
and anyone listening to me speak could hear that, other being female,
there were
no similarities to our voices.
But since Siri was in the
headline, unobservant viewers jumped to the conclusion that the big secret was out: Siri must be me!
One or two incorrect blog posts led to an
international onslaught of sharing and
re-posting this case of mistaken identity as fact.
I frantically contacted dozens of blogs and news outlets, asking them to delete their posts, only to be told that, since I was
objecting, it must be true. The Verge was asked to change the
headline to clear things up, and refused. They finally
changed the title of the Youtube version of their video and added this
disclaimer: "Allison
Dufty is not the voice of Siri, and neither she nor The Verge intended
to imply
that she is."