Apple Siri Discontinues Default 'Female' Voice Setting... Adds Voice Options

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Apple has stopped setting the voice of its AI voice assistant Siri to female by default and now allows users to choose their preferred voice. Two new voices will also be added.

According to economic media CNBC and others, Apple stated in a press release on the 31st of last month (local time), "We are pleased to introduce two Siri voices for English users and an option for Siri users to select their preferred voice when setting up their device." This will be applied starting from the beta version of iOS 14.5.

Going forward, English-speaking users will receive a prompt to choose their preferred voice from four Siri voices during setup. Apple explained, "This is part of Apple's long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion" and "a continuation of products and services designed to better reflect the diversity of the world we live in." Apple Siri processes over 25 billion requests monthly on more than 500 million devices worldwide.

Previously, Apple introduced English voices with Australian and British accents and offered male voices as the default Siri voice in some regions. However, since its launch in 2011, the default voice in the United States has always been female. This led to criticism that it reflected a male-centered AI industry and reinforced stereotypes. CNBC reported, "Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant also have female voices set as default for English-speaking users but offer various alternative voice options."

Meanwhile, Apple's iOS 14.5 includes not only new Siri voices but also features such as unlocking the phone with an Apple Watch.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.