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by tajen 3301 days ago
I wonder whether people whould have enjoyed different kinds of male / androgynous voices. Soft voice? Energetic coffee-powered male voice to make us feel like businessmen during an MBA? Effeminate male voice because it would trigger sympathy? Masculine female voice because it mixes styles? Aged-man voice because it evokes wisdom? Grand-mother voice because it evokes good tips for life? Celebrity voices?

I concur that the initial female voice of Siri, Alexa and Cortana reminded me that all assistants shouldn't be women, and I believe future ones will match people's preference, so the only voices that will be universal will be those 3 voices, female and young.

1 comments

How about an uptight british butler voice (Cogsworth from Disney's Beauty and the Beast) or the lovable lackey of evil voice (Pain and Panic from Disney's Hercules)?

There are plenty of male servant cliches: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ServantTropes

In the UK, Siri has a male voice with a posh English accent.