Ever wonder who’s bossing you around when you say, “Hey, Siri” or “Alexa, what’s the weather today?” The cool, calm, and all-knowing voices that live inside your gadgets didn’t just appear out of thin air. Behind these digital divas are real people—yes, actual humans—who’ve lent their voices to the tech we’ve come to rely on. And their stories are just as fascinating as the tech itself.

Let’s start with the most iconic of them all: Apple’s Siri. She was the OG virtual assistant, way before we had an entire squad of voices living in our devices. The voice behind Siri? None other than Susan Bennett, an Atlanta-based voice actress. Fun fact: Susan didn’t even know she was Siri until a friend pointed it out. Imagine that! Recorded back in 2005, her voice became the digital sidekick millions of people came to love—or, let’s be honest, yell at. Sorry, Susan.

Now, you’d think being the voice of Siri would’ve made Susan rich enough to buy her own private island, right? Wrong. Turns out, when Susan recorded those lines, it was for a third-party company, and she had no idea her voice would end up in Apple’s hands. So, Apple essentially bought the rights to her voice for pennies, while they made millions. Talk about getting the short end of the stick!

But not every story here is negative, folks. Next up, is Alexa. These days you can’t throw a virtual rock without hitting an Alexa-powered device. But ever wonder who’s behind that friendly, omniscient voice? Her name is Nina Rolle, a Boulder, Colorado-based voiceover artist, though Amazon has remained pretty coy about confirming it (classic Alexa, always keeping secrets).

Rolle’s resume includes commercials, audiobooks, and even corporate videos, but it’s her role as Alexa that’s made her a household presence in millions of homes. Ironically, despite her voice being everywhere, Rolle herself stays completely under the radar—like a digital assistant superhero: always heard, never seen.

Now let’s talk about Alexa’s rival: Google Assistant. Originally, Googles smart assistant devices had the voice of Laurie Burke, who was only paid $35 an hour (ouch).

But while Burke’s voice did the job, it lacked the charm and warmth that Rolle brought to Alexa. Not to be outdone, Google eventually hired Kiki Baessell, a Google employee with zero voiceover experience. Turns out, she nailed it. After her collaboration with Google, Baessell’s voice career took off. She scored projects with big brands, and even expanded into film and commercial work. Now that’s what you call leveling up!

And finally, there’s the voice behind your Bluetooth devices—you know, the one that annoyingly tells you when you’re connected (or, more often, not connected). Unlike Siri or Alexa, the identity behind this voice has been a well-kept industry secret. Manufacturers like Sony and Samsung tend to use in-house talent or generic voice actors.

But recently, a woman on TikTok revealed herself as one of the voices behind Bluetooth. She’s also the voice you’ve probably heard a million times when calling any corporate number: “If you know the extension of the party you are trying to reach, you may dial it at any time…”

These voices may live in our gadgets, but the stories behind them are so much more than just tech wizardry. They remind us that, even in a world where artificial intelligence runs the show, there’s still a very human touch behind the technology.

And as we continue to rely on these voices to make our lives easier, maybe it’s time we show a little appreciation for the people behind the tech—because without them, Siri would just be a bunch of beeps, and let’s face it, no one wants that.

Till next time, be wickedly wonderful.