Siri, are you male or female? If you ask this question of the iPhone 4S voice assistant, it won't give you a clear answer, but most people assume that the distinctly feminine-sounding voice comes from a woman.
Many electronics, such as GPS devices or voicemail boxes, are female, and according to a CNN report, there is likely a psychological reason behind this. Siri sounds female in at least the U.S. and four other countries, although in France and the U.K., Siri sounds male.
Scientific studies have shown that people find a woman's voice "more pleasing" than that of a man, CNN said. Stanford University professor Clifford Nass pointed to a scientific study that indicates this affinity starts in the womb. In the study, fetuses reacted to the sound of their mother's voice but not to other female voices. They also did not react to their father's voice.
"It's much easier to find a female voice that everyone likes than a male voice that everyone likes," Nass said. "It's a well-established phenomenon that the human brain is developed to like female voices."
But the reason for Siri's gender could also lie in history, CNN also said.
In World War II, female voices were used in navigation devices in fighter planes, because they were distinctive among male pilots. Phone operators are also generally women, CNN noted, "making people accustomed to getting assistance from a disembodied woman's voice."
Additionally, when automakers first began to include voice prompts in cars such as "your door is ajar," consumer research teams discovered that people "overwhelmingly preferred female voices to male ones," CNN said.
Meanwhile, Siri's clever answers to the questions of iPhone 4S users has provided plenty of material for blogs, memes, and Tumblr and Twitter accounts. For more on Siri see How to Use Siri, How to Teach Siri Your Name, and 30 Questions and Commands for Siri.