[ad_1]
Apple will remove the default female voice for its assistant Siri, according to TechCrunch. The change is effective as of today’s release of the sixth beta of iOS 14.5. After this latest update is released publicly for all customers, iPhone and iPad users will be prompted to choose their preferred Siri voice when setting up the device. Previously, Siri used a female voice by default, and users could choose between other voices in the settings after the fact.
Along with this change, Apple is also introducing two completely new voices for Siri which, according to TechCrunch, “Use source talent recordings which are then played back through Apple’s Neural text-to-speech engine, allowing voices to flow more organically through phrases that are actually generated on the fly.” These new voices are available to English speakers around the world.
The news is the latest example of big tech companies trying to remove all gender associations from their digital voice assistants. Studies have shown that when assistants use a female voice by default, it can reinforce prejudices and negative stereotypes. Some embarrassing mistakes have been made along the way as these technologies develop, but Apple’s latest milestone is one of the most significant to date.
“We’re excited to introduce two new Siri voices for English speakers and the ability for Siri users to select their preferred voice when setting up their device,” Apple said. TechCrunch in a report. “This is a continuation of Apple’s long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, and products and services designed to better reflect the diversity of the world we live in.” Siri supports more than 25 billion requests per month on 500 million devices, according to TechCrunch.
[ad_2]
Source link