(Image Source: Clickz)

BY LUCIA LEE

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

So why is Siri a she? As the buzz of the iPhone 4S and its personal assistance app Siri continue, that’s what some in the media are asking -- But first,  here’s CNBC, showing what the app is capable of.

“The comments that Siri makes are so entertaining and sometimes darn right sassy. Let’s look at a couple. Case and point: when you type in ‘I can't sleep,’ Siri says, ‘I never said you could.’ Try asking her and, yes, it is a female voice, what are the two things that are infinite. The result is, ‘The universe and human stupidity. I’m not sure about the universe.’”

CNN suggests there’s biological and historical reasons to why so many computerized voices are female.

“Scientific studies have shown that people generally find women's voices more pleasing than men's. … The use of female voices in navigation devices dates back to World War II, when women's voices were employed in airplane cockpits ... And telephone operators have traditionally been female, making people accustomed to getting assistance from a disembodied woman's voice.”

But a blogger for The Stir says--Siri is a she because of stereotyping.

“[W]hen it comes to receiving assistance from an entity we can direct to respond in a submissive way ... people prefer female voices. Which, helloooo, totally shines light on how just how ingrained some of our most sexist beliefs are. Even if part of the reason is also that women are presumed to be better at communication and fostering relationships, that's still gender stereotyping, no?”

But, Siri isn’t always a she. In the U.K., its default voice is actually a he. Apple hasn’t commented on the difference, but a tech consultant tells the Guardian the reason must be cultural.  

“‘Americans speak loudly and clearly and are usually in a hurry, so it makes sense for them to have a female voice because it has the pitch and range. British people mumble and obey authority, so they need someone authoritative.’ Which, apparently, still means male.”

Not everyone finds Siri’s voice pleasing. A commenter on CNN compares the program to retro chat bots that also have response capabilities.

"I used to ask … questions to those AOL and MSN chat bots back in the day and it would give the same replies as Siri. How is this innovative or clever? The only difference is that it reads it out in a crappy female robotic voice."

In an article published after Steve Jobs’ death, the Toronto Star quotes the late inventor’s vision of the user and device relationship--suggesting that vision has something to do with Siri’s voice.

“‘[The device] knows most of the raw information in your life that you’d like to keep, but then starts to make connections between things, and one day when you’re 18 and you’ve just split up with your girlfriend it says: ‘You know, Steve, the same thing has happened three times in a row.” And that, as Jobs surely concluded, is the kind of thing a woman would say.”