However, the biggest influence may have more to do with Douglas Rain’s performance and the strong desire of voice assistant developers to avoid any association with HAL. There is a great deal of discussion about the voices used in assistants and what it says about our culture. Male voices such as Watson and some of the other options from Amazon Polly and Google Assistant also lean toward personable and cheerful. Maybe even an exact opposite of HAL depending on your point of view. Cheerful, friendly female voices from Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant are intentionally dissimilar to HAL. It also created a benchmark of what all voice assistants we hear today do not want to sound like. The rendition is nothing short of ominous. Rain’s portrayal of HAL 9000 was an inspired performance perfectly suited to the movie script. The voice of HAL in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ Douglas shared many of the same qualities as Kubrick’s iconic creation: precision, strength of steel, enigma and infinite intelligence, as well as a wicked sense of humour.” Douglas Rain’s HAL Influence How Voice Assistants Sound Today “Douglas Rain was that rare artist: an actor deeply admired by other actors. CTV News reported on Rain’s death and a comment by Stratford Festival artistic director Antoni Cimolino: His death was announced in a media release by the Stratford Festival, a Shakespearean theater company where Rain was a founding member in 1952. Rain passed away this week at the age of 90. Another part is the even, dispassioned and precise voice of HAL delivered by actor Douglas Rain. In that case, we could be as helpless as Dave, the movie’s main character, and trying to figure out a way to disable our voice assistant and reassert control over our environment.Ī big part of that fear is our increasing dependence on technology and an intermittent feeling of helplessness without it. It also imbued latent fear among people about how an AI-based assistant could evolve interests incompatible with our own. HAL’s voice defined the sound of a voice assistant for a generation. Though it would be cool to have Morgan Freeman, Darth Vader, or Yoda reading your reminders and telling you the weather, Apple hasn't announced any plans to expand Siri with any celebrity voices in a permanent fashion.Many Voicebot Podcast listeners have noticed that the intro music is from Stanley Kubrick’s landmark film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The choice is a deliberate homage to the most iconic film-based voice assistant, HAL 9000. Unfortunately, Siri does not support any alternative voices to the ones that are available in the iPhone's settings at this time. What celebrities can I change Siri's voice to? Though Apple hasn't officially confirmed this information, Bennett has said she started working on Siri's voice with Apple in July 2005, several years before Siri's launch in October 2011. Voice actress Susan Bennett from Atlanta, Georgia, is the voice of Siri we've come to know and love (or not) in the US. Right now, Siri's original voice is called American, Voice 4. The process to change Siri's voice back to the original is the same: Go to your iPhone's Settings and select Siri & Search then, choose Siri Voice. Maria Diaz/ZDNETĪlso: Problems downloading iOS 16? Here's how to fix it fast FAQ How can I change Siri's voice back to the original? You have several accents to choose from as well as various voices for each one. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form. ![]() If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers. ![]() ![]() Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. ![]() When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping.
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