Apple's voice recognition software Siri is known for the robotic female voice that 'responds' to user requests. Despite the recent addition of a male alternative, Siri will be associated with the original female vocals for the foreseeable future. It didn't start life as an automaton, though: sometime before the launch of the software, someone had to sit down and read out the plethora of sounds, words and sentences that would be broken down by technicians to create the linguistic building blocks of Siri.

Non-disclosure agreements have meant that many of the individuals and organisations involved in the creation of the iconic voice have kept silent. Now, however, CNN reporter Jessica Ravitz has accidentally come in contact with the woman believed to be the originator of Siri.

Susan Bennett is a voice-over artist, regularly employed to provide the sounds for GPS devices, phone services and other electronic recordings. In 2005, she was hired by ScanSoft for a month straight of four-hour recording sessions. She had no idea where the recordings would eventually end up, only discovering that she was Siri when a colleague asked her about the software release. Bennett's first response on checking out the voice for herself? "It's obviously me. It's my voice."

Ravitz discovered Bennett's secret while working on a completely different piece about Atlanta airport. However, Bennett only opted to go public when a Verge article explored the unusual world of electronic voices, renewing interest in the origins of Siri.

Apple and the other groups involved in developing Siri are still remaining silent on the subject, due to NDAs and business considerations for the apparently very competitive and secretive voice-over industry. Therefore we have to take Bennett's word for it, as well as the voice expert who told CNN he is 100% certain the human and electronic voices match. Judge for yourself: