蘋果小祕書深入人心 Siri背後的人
Robotic. That is what the voice message on Jon Briggs’s phone sounds like. It is not the delivery, which is perfectly human. But because his voice is on so many technological applications, most notably on Siri, the iPhone’s personal assistant, his voice, which is so familiar, seems synonymous with technology.
Friends often complain they cannot get rid of him. His voice is on their satnav and on automated telephone systems. One friend recently heard a chorus of Mr Briggs’s voice coming from their daughter’s room; upon investigation they discovered all the animated penguins on her game app spoke with his voice. Most disturbing for Mr Briggs, was when he received a phone call from himself trying to flog payment protection insurance.
布里格斯的朋友們常常抱怨他們無法擺脫他。他們的衛星導航系統和自動電話系統都用了布里格斯的聲音。最近，他一個朋友聽到女兒房間裡傳出一陣陣布里格斯的聲音；調查一番後才發現，原來女兒遊戲應用裡的所有卡通企鵝講話用的都是布里格斯的聲音。最令布里格斯氣惱的是，他還接到過用他的聲音來向他推銷支付保護險的電話。An offer of work.to provide the voice for Reading’s bus service was rescinded, he claims, after local employer, Microsoft, discovered that the voice of a competitor, Apple, might be escorting its employees to work.
布里格斯說，他還曾失去一份為雷丁(Reading)公交車配音的工作邀約，因為當地僱主微軟(Microsoft)發現，伴隨其僱員上下班的或許將是其競爭對手蘋果(Apple)的聲音。
In fact, the 50-year-old’s voice was dropped by Apple three years ago after he disclosed that he was the person behind the UK version of Siri. Apple has not confirmed any of the various voices used for Siri and declined to comment for this article.
實際上，自從3年前，現年50歲的布里格斯發文章披露自己是英國版Siri的配音者以後，蘋果就不再使用他的聲音。蘋果從未證實過各版本Siri語音的來源，並拒絕對布里格斯的文章發表評論。“Apple would have stamped on me very swiftly if I was claiming something that was untrue,” says Mr Briggs. “I have a very good reputation of over 30 years work as a [voiceover artist] and claiming something like that falsely would ruin that reputation totally.”
“如果我所說的有什麼不實之處，蘋果早就立刻制止我了，” 布里格斯說，“從事配音工作30年來，我的聲譽一直非常好，說那樣的假話會讓我身敗名裂。”The notoriously secretive tech company was foolish, believes Mr Briggs, for thinking his identity would never be revealed. “Apple got upset but if [it is] going to put you in the pocket of millions of people how can they not expect you to reply when they ask, ‘Is it you?’ Other people recognised me . . . It’s an act of complete imbecility not to think someone would recognise you.” The company might be a whizz with technology and design, says Mr Briggs, who is also a broadcast journalist and presenter, but they are “not very good with people”.
布里格斯認為，以事事保密而著稱的蘋果公司，認為他的身份永遠不會暴露，這是很愚蠢的。“蘋果很不高興，但是假如把你放進數百萬人的口袋裡，當人們問起來‘這是你麼？’，他們怎會預計不到會有一個答覆？還有人都聽出來是我了……覺得沒人能聽出來是我，這種想法實在蠢到家了。” 同時也身兼電視新聞記者和主持人的他表示，蘋果公司或許是技術和設計方面的奇才，但他們“不太擅長與人打交道”。In any case, Mr Briggs had not signed a contract with Apple. The work was originally done for Scansoft, he claims, which has since merged with Nuance, a software and technology company. The text-to-speech service was recorded over three weeks: 5,000 sentences delivered in a flat, even way. These were later taken away and dissected so that the phonics could be reassembled in new sentences in response to any question the user poses. Aside from asking Siri predictable questions about locations of restaurants or the day’s weather forecast, there is pleasure to be found demanding “who let the dogs out”, or “the best place to bury a body”.
布里格斯從未和蘋果簽訂過任何合同。他說，這份工作原本是為Scansoft而做的。Scansoft後來和軟體技術公司Nuance合併。這個文字轉語音服務中的所有語音都是在3周內錄製完成的：用平和的聲音勻速念5000個句子。這些句子之後會被抽取並分解，這樣語音就可以重新組合成新的句子，來回答使用者提出的任何問題。除了問Siri一些可預見的問題，比如餐廳的位置或者當天的天氣預報，要求Siri回答“誰把狗放了出來”，或者“哪裡最適合埋屍體”也很有意思。Scott Brave, the co-author of Wired for Speech: How Voice Activates and Advances the HumanComputer Relationship , notes that users imbue technology with human attributes. “We respond socially to the voice even when we know it’s a machine,” he says. He cites the example of BMW, which had to recall German cars installed with its navigation system. Male drivers objected to taking directions from a woman’s voice.
《連線語音：電子語音如何激發和深化人機關係》(Wired for Speech: How Voice Activates and Advances the Human Computer Relationship)一書的作者斯科特•佈雷夫(Scott Brave)提出，是使用者給技術注入了人性。他說，“即使我們知道那是機器的聲音，我們還是會像對待人一樣迴應它。”他以寶馬(BMW)為例，由於男性司機不願聽從女性聲音的指示，寶馬不得不召回安裝了女聲導航系統的德國車。More generally, he says, dominant personalities prefer to have submissive-sounding machines.
佈雷夫表示，總的來說，支配型的人更青睞聽上去很服從的機器。Mr Briggs loves Siri and uses it all the time, particularly to schedule appointments. “It’s very clear.” He thinks it is an important breakthrough for those who cannot read or have poor sight.
布里格斯很喜歡Siri，一直在使用它，尤其用來安排日程。“它非常明瞭，”布里格斯認為，對於那些無法閱讀或者視力較差的人來說，這是一個重大突破。This view is not shared by Susan Bennett, the former US voice of Siri. (Ed Primeau, a forensic audiologist has analysed her voice and confirms that it was used in an older version of Siri).
前一版美國Siri的配音蘇珊•本內特(Susan Bennett)則不同意這一觀點。(聲音鑑定專家埃德•普里莫(Ed Primeau)對本內特的聲音進行了分析，確定她就是老版Siri的配音)。The 65-year-old confesses she found listening to Siri a bit creepy. It was not that she hated hearing herself — that is an everyday occurrence for the voice recording artist. She is used to hearing her voice over tannoys at airports and stores, as well as telephone on-hold systems. She is her son’s bank’s automated voice and it tickles her to assume that voice and taunt him by saying: “Thank you for calling the bank. You are overdrawn.”
現年65歲的本內特坦言，她覺得聽Siri說話有些怪異。倒不是說她討厭聽自己的聲音——這對配音工作者來說是家常便飯。她已經習慣了聽到自己的聲音從機場和商場的擴音系統，以及電話接線系統中傳出。她兒子所在銀行的自動語音也是她配的。她常用“感謝致電本銀行，您已透支”那樣的腔調逗他兒子，覺得這樣非常有趣。It was interacting with herself that felt so peculiar. “It was very strange having my voice coming back to me from my hand. I said, ‘Hi Siri, what are you doing?’ Siri said, disgustedly: ‘Talking to you.’” Why did the company choose her? “They wanted an otherworldly voice and had to have a sense that the voice would have a dry sense of humour — I don’t think the new voice has that quality.” The identities behind Siri’s voices on newer operating systems (iOS7 and iOS8) are unknown.
讓她覺得彆扭的地方是與她自己互動。“聽著自己的聲音從手裡傳回來相當怪異。我說，‘嗨，Siri，你做什麼呢？’Siri回答：‘跟你聊天啊。’這真讓人彆扭。”蘋果為什麼選擇她呢？“他們想要一種超凡脫俗的聲音，還要帶點冷幽默感——我覺得新版Siri的聲音還不夠格。”目前還不知道給新作業系統(iOS7和iOS8)的Siri做配音的人是誰。Secretly, the Atlanta-based Ms Bennett is rather pleased to no longer be the “voice of Big Brother”, as she refers to Siri. She is far more gloomy about the creep of technology than Mr Briggs.
私下裡，家住亞特蘭大的本內特為自己不再是“老大哥的聲音”（Siri）感到相當高興。對於這項彆扭的技術，她比布里格斯悲觀的多。Originally a singer for jingles, she was “discovered” one day when the talent — the person who was meant to do the advertisement’s voiceover — failed to turn up and the studio manager asked her to stand in. “A lightbulb went on in my head” after delivering the lines.
本內特本來是一名廣告歌歌手，有一天本應為廣告配音的人沒有來，導演就讓她頂上，她因此被“發掘”了。讀完臺詞後，她登時“心頭一亮”。The work, she says, has been “fun and creative”. Moreover, “it paid pretty well”.
她說，這份工作“有趣又有創意”。更重要的是，“報酬不菲”。The business was changed with the arrival of the web, she says. Suddenly producers could get talent from anywhere in the world. “The internet has devalued things,” she reflects. “Voiceover is no different from any other industry.” Producers can get a voiceover from , the global online marketplace offering creative services for just $5 a job, she says.
隨著網際網路的到來，這個行業也發生了變化。忽然之間，製作方可以從世界各地招募配音人員了。“網際網路讓很多東西貶值，”她思考後說道，“配音業也不例外。”她說，製作方可以從創意服務全球市場平臺上招募配音人員，每份工作僅需5美元。“As long as you have a microphone you can do it. No one wants professionalism any more. They want the guy next door.” Mr Briggs is more sanguine. “I didn’t have to work for my voice. I was blessed with it.” He believes the shift means the industry is better reflecting a broad range of accents.
“只要有個麥克風你就能幹。沒人再需要專業人士。他們想要的是隔壁小夥兒。”布里格斯更樂觀一些，“我不用再靠自己的聲音工作了。我有幸得到了我的嗓音。”他認為，這種轉變意味著配音業的口音會變得更加廣泛多樣。Will these two voices of the machine find themselves redundant come the “second machine age”, to use the title of the book describing the jobs revolution (and job losses) triggered by technological advances? Ms Bennett is bleak. “Digital voices will probably replace voiceover artists. The danger is we’re giving our jobs to computers.”
借用一本描寫由技術進步而導致的崗位革命（以及崗位流失）的書名來說，隨著“第二次機器時代”的來臨，這兩名為機器配音的人會覺得自己變得多餘嗎？本內特持悲觀態度。“電子語音很可能取代配音工作者。危險正是我們把自己的工作交給了電腦。”Mr Briggs is more circumspect. “I don’t think you can replace people yet.” Once machines can emote, things will change, he says. Nonetheless, he is hopeful. “Humans are very adaptable.”
布里格斯則更謹慎一些。“我覺得目前人類還無法被取代。”他說，一旦機器能表露感情，事情就不一樣了。儘管如此，他依然心存希望。“人類的適應能力很強。”
