Siri is reportedly getting a new voice.
Axios reported that Apple is beta testing a gender-neutral device for the latest iOS. The voice was available to the public for beta testing earlier in the week.
Apple said the new option allowed the user’s experience to be more “personalized.”
"We’re excited to introduce a new Siri voice for English speakers, giving users more options to choose a voice that speaks to them," Apple told Axios. "Millions of people around the world rely on Siri every day to help get things done, so we work to make the experience feel as personalized as possible."
Last year, Apple added two Siri voices recorded by African American actors. Apple also changed the default Siri voice from a woman to an option that forced the user to choose to pick a default voice.
A report from a United Nations Agency argued that a female default voice “carries a risk of spreading problematic gender stereotypes and regularizing one-sided, command-based verbal exchanges with women.”
Smart devices have faced criticism in recent years for reportedly “eavesdropping” on users.
Newsbusters reported last year that Geoffrey A. Fowler, a technology reporter at The Washington Post, warned people about the “invasive” new technology “Sidewalk” in his piece headlined: “Amazon is about to share your Internet connection with neighbors. Here’s how to turn it off.”
“There’s an eyebrow-raising technology buried inside millions of Amazon Echo smart speakers and Ring security cameras,” Fowler wrote of the Amazon device. “They have the ability to make a new kind of wireless network called Sidewalk that shares a slice of your home Internet connection with your neighbors’ devices.
Video doorbells have faced criticism for the breadth of the device’s recording capabilities.
Last year, a UK judge required a man to pay compensatory damages to his female neighbor after his Ring doorbell camera allegedly intruded on her personal privacy.
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