April 21, 2024, 3:07 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
For a long time, Siri was an intriguing mix of a flagship project and a source of amusing misunderstandings. Apple’s voice assistant has now evolved into a helpful tool available in various voices. TECHBOOK shows how to easily change Siri’s voice.
Since the introduction of Apple’s voice assistants in 2011, Siri has become the most famous nickname in the world. Although a complex system underlies the application, Siri has become a digital personality for many users. The voice assistant is a daily helper, a lifesaver, or even a conversation partner, as humorously illustrated by the TV series “The Big Bang Theory” through Rajesh “Raj” Koothrappali. This is mainly because Siri’s voice is female by default.
From Error Source to Helpful Assistant
But the name Siri is not just a nice female nickname that Apple came up with; it’s an acronym. Siri stands for “Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface.” The voice assistant is designed to operate iPhones via voice command. Especially on the go, Siri can be a great help if you don’t have a free hand, find manual operation difficult, or are unable to use it due to a visual impairment. Additionally, Siri can impress with interesting and informative facts and always has a witty answer to quirky questions, making it a good distraction when bored.
However, anyone who has ever talked to Siri knows that its speech often doesn’t sound completely human. In times of podcasts and translation software that work with AI-generated voices, the question arises whether Siri’s vocal origin is human or machine. And indeed, it’s a real person who lends Siri its voice. In German, among others, Heike Hagen–whom attentive listeners might also recognize from various TV shows–voices Siri’s texts. The speakers of the other voice options seem to be unknown.
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Since its introduction in 2011, Siri has continuously evolved; for example, a deeper voice alternative was added in 2013. But there have also been significant leaps in quality. While “Big Bang Theory” still jokes about Siri’s unreliability, the voice assistant is now very useful. Siri can capture dictated text messages, initiate phone calls, or navigate users to their desired location. However, pronounced dialects of users can still pose a challenge in communication.
How Do I Change Siri’s Voice on the iPhone?
By default, Siri has a female voice, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you prefer a deeper or more neutral tone, you can easily change it in the settings. Depending on the language, more than two voice options may be available.
For the following instructions to work, Siri must be activated. To change Siri on the iPhone, first open the settings and navigate to the “Siri & Search” menu. Then tap on the “Siri Voice” tab and select one of the voices according to your preference. In the “Siri & Search” area, you can also set which form of address the voice assistant should respond to.
The type of response–such as with subtitles on the display–can also be regulated here. For a long time, Siri was considered one of the pioneering projects in the field of voice assistance. But can old-school voice assistants like Siri, Assistant, and Alexa compete against AI voice bots in the future? TECHBOOK editor Adrian Mühlroth is skeptical. In his opinion, the future doesn’t look very promising.