siri

苏珊·班尼特

　　Though you’ve never met Susan Bennett, you are probably more familiar with her than you think. You may have asked her for directions, what the weather is like, the score to baseball games and even to remind you to pick up dog food。

　　也许你和苏珊·班尼特素未谋面，但你很可能对她比你想象中要熟悉。你可能曾经向她询问驾驶方向，询问天气状况，棒球赛比分乃至需要她提醒你该买狗粮了。

　　Bennett has revealed herself the voice of Apple’s original Siri, and in a recent interview with CNN, she dished on, among other things, how she came to be the one to give life to your favorite snarky personal assistant。

　　在最近接受美国CNN采访时，班尼特坦言，自己就是苹果手机第一款语音助理的录制者，在采访中她絮絮叨叨的说出了自己成为语音助理的录制者——那个给你你最喜爱的、有点小脾气的个人助理赋予了生命的人——的始末过程。

　　Bennett has done voice work for automated systems since the 1970s. Her first job in the biz was as the voice of Tilly the all-time teller, the first ATM machine. She’s also lent her vocals to GPS devices, automated telephone systems and even Delta airlines terminals。

　　自上世纪70年代起，班尼特就开始从事自动系统声音录制方面的工作。她的第一份工作是为第一代自动取款机——“全天候柜员蒂莉” 配音。她也曾为全球定位导航GPS系统、自动电话系统，以及三角洲航空公司终端系统献声。

　　“The Siri voices were recorded in 2005, in the month of July, four hours a day for the whole month,” Bennett told CNN. “When I recorded those voices, I had absolutely no idea where they would end up。”

　　“苹果语音助理是我在2005年7月录制的，每天工作4个小时，干了整整一个月，” 班尼特告诉CNN的记者说，“当我录制那些声音的时候，我完全不知道它们是干什么用的。”

　　Though Bennett’s thought was that those speech samples would be used in company telephone systems, according to CNN, she first heard her voice as Siri the same time many of us did - after the launch of Apple’s iPhone 4s in 2011.

　　根据CNN相关报道，当时班尼特以为她录制的声音样本是被用在公司电话系统上的，结果在2011年苹果公司推出iPhone 4s 时，她和其他人一样第一次听到了自己当时录制的声音。

　　“The first time I actually heard my voice as Siri was when my friend emailed me and said, ‘Isn’t this you?’ Bennett said. “And because I didn’t have the newest version of the iPhone, I went to the Apple site and that’s where I heard the voice, and I just went, ‘Ohh, hmm. That is me.’”

　　“我第一次听到自己在苹果语音助理上的声音是因为朋友发邮件给我，问‘那不是你的声音吗？’”，班尼特说，“由于当时我没有买最新款的苹果手机，我登陆了苹果官网，我就是在那里听到自己的声音的，当时我就说，‘噢，那是我的声音。’”

　　Apple has yet to confirm that the Susan Bennett recordings were what was used to create the original Siri voice, but legal representation for Bennett has vouched for her and audio-forensics have told CNN that Bennett and the Siri voice are a “100%” match。

　　对苏珊·班尼特是否就是为第一代语音献声的人，苹果公司尚未证实。但苏珊的法律代理人已经为她做了保证，并对苏珊的声音进行了音频取证，证明她的声音和苹果语音助理“100%匹配”。

　　...for now, at least: With iOS 7, Apple has given users two options for Siri voices, a male and female now. And though Apple will neither confirm or deny, it sounds as though Bennett’s female voice has been replaced。

　　至少目前为止是。随着苹果iOS 7问世，苹果公司已经为用户提供了男声和女声两种语音助理以供选择。尽管苹果公司尚未承认或否认此事，但听起来似乎班尼特录制的女声助理已经被另外的声音取代了。

　　As for the sometimes “snippy” tone of our beloved original Siri, there may be an explanation for that。

　　至于为什么替换掉我们最爱的、有时听上去“傲慢”的第一代语音助理，苹果公司也许应该给出解释。

　　"There are some people that just can read hour upon hour upon hour, and it's not a problem,” Bennett explained to CNN. “For me, I get extremely bored ... So I just take breaks. That's one of the reasons why Siri might sometimes sound like she has a bit of an attitude. "

　　“也许有的人可以数小时不断的录制声音，没有问题”，班尼特对CNN记者说，“但是我会感到特别厌倦……所以这时我需要休息。这就是为什么苹果语音助理有时听上去有些摆架子的原因之一。”