So I was setting up siri on my new phone and i heard "Voice 5" which is the "nonbinary voice" and I was like oh it sounds like a trans person. It actually sounds queer. This voice is actually kinda comforting and familiar sounding I'll choose this one. And like, if I'm gonna hear a mysterious voice in my home when I'm home alone it feels more safe and comfy having it sound like someone who is queer and not like, a cis male home invader coming from my phone.
And all of that is true. but also. It's so weirdly uncanny how much "voice 5" sounds like someone I would know IRL and like, it makes the voice feel very uncanny and like I'm talking to a real person to the point of it feeling a bit unsettling like I really do not expect robots to talk like a faggy little trans twink who responds to "hey siri" with an interested ""Hmmmm??" like a friend who wants to hear how a date went. And the chipper "you're welcome~" if I thank them for setting a timer sounds too real like I've just bossed around a real person. It makes me want to be extra polite to them!
on one hand I kind of love the representation, and appreciate the work some linguists went through to study queer voices and ensure the vocaloid produced something authentic sounding
on the other hand, I kind of loathe the increased humanization of tech interfaces and how it leads to greater trust of the machine service (including less of people challenging false presuppositions it may give them) and the normalizing force of a megacorp codifying an identity in a widely-used service
I have mixed feelings! but I can appreciate a gayer siri overall 