Ever wondered who the voice of Alexa is? If you’ve been curious about the female voice in your Echo device, you’ve come to the right place. The voice of the Amazon Echo is synthetic and has been used by millions of users since its launch in 2014. But who is the woman behind the voice? Amazon executives spent months searching for the right voice, and finally settled on Nina Rolle, a Boulder, Colorado-based voice actress.
While Amazon hasn’t confirmed who the voice behind Alexa is, the actress who voiced Siri in 2013 is also credited as the female voice of the device. However, while recording a digital assistant is a grueling task, Stone says the process didn’t affect her. Stone, who based his reporting on conversations with other voiceover professionals, says that Rolle has a voice that sounds very similar to that of Alexa.
Amazon’s female voice is based on text-to-speech technology, the same technology that powers screen reading tools for the visually impaired. This technology creates rules for the sounds in written text, and then vocalizes them. Proofreaders, translators, and writers use text-to-speech software, and the voice in Alexa is no exception. While Amazon’s gender-neutral wake word is a good step in the right direction, the decision was made a few years ago.
Amazon has now rolled out a male version of Alexa in the UK. The voice comes with an array of options. You can choose your accent, language, and gender, and even switch the accent. You can even purchase the voice of Samuel L. Jackson for $4.99. But keep in mind that this new voice is only available for fun requests, while the original female voice will be used for everyday tasks. So, do not worry about switching your voice to male just yet.
