Apple virtual assistant Siri, immortalized in many movies and television series, will no longer automatically have a female voice, CNN quoted the company is saying.
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Apple now offers a choice between male and female voices with Siri, as well as six different accents, including American, British, Indian and Irish, but in the US market the basic setting is the female voice.
Apple also announced that it would add two new voices to the Siri program.
"We are excited to add two new voices for Siri, for English speakers, and an option for Siri users to choose the voice they want when editing settings on the device," Apple wrote in a statement.
'It's a continuation of Apple's long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, and for products and services designed to better reflect the diversity of the world we live in.'
Gender stereotypes in virtual assistants like Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Google's assistant have long been cause for objection.
In 2019, a United Nations report warned that voice virtual assistants support the views that a woman is susceptible, obedient, passive and eager to comply, available at keystroke or voice command.
Most virtual assistants offer a female voice as the basic setting, and users can change that.
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