Like Siri, there’s a real person behind the text-to-speech voice.
If you're one of the 1 billion users who've been on TikTok, you've probably encountered one of the social media platform's numerous voice-over add-ons.
One of the recommended voice-overs — Jessie — is a cheery, upbeat female voice and it's now become a ubiquitous text-to-speech option on the wildly popular app.
Many users have thought the voice of "Jessie" was a computer-generated robotic voice but in reality, the voice is that of Canadian radio host Kat Callaghan.
Callaghan revealed — on TikTok, naturally — that she was the voice behind the feature in an Oct. 19 post, which has now been viewed over 43 million times.
"For a long time I didn't say a word. But … yes it's me and yes I have an ongoing awesome relationship with the folks at TikTok," the 36-year-old host, podcaster and voice artist wrote in the accompanying caption. "The coolest part for me is watching the creativity & awesome content that people are putting out there using my voice. (Also oddly enough this is my first TikTok)."
TikTok also confirmed to "Good Morning America" that Callaghan "sourced the voice" for one of their text-to-speech voice options.
"A lot of people were skeptical, like, 'Nope, don't believe it. No, it's a robot. It's not a person,'" Callaghan told "Good Morning America" in an interview from her home studio. "Other comments like, they were just curious. 'You need to say something, say something in that voice,' so I put a second TikTok just to let people know this is it. This is my alter ego, 'Jessie' as I put it."
Even though the "Jessie" voice has been on TikTok for awhile now, Callaghan said she was hesitant to admit she was the voice-over actor behind it because initially, not everyone liked it. But over a year later, "Jessie" has grown in popularity and Callaghan started to change her mind.
She said becoming the voice of "Jessie" has been life-changing for her and she's been having fun and enjoying the ride.
"I thought, 'Do I keep it in my bubble that I'm the voice?' or 'Do I go ahead and let people know?'" Callaghan recalled.
"So far, it seems to be that it's just going to be a part of who I am and the world knows it now," she continued. "I think that it will change my life and I hope that it does in positive ways as well and I hope that I can do good with it."
Unlike Apple's Siri voice feature — which is a speech-to-text feature and also utilizes the real-life voices of different people, including Susan Bennett — TikTok's "Jessie" voice is a text-to-speech feature. And although she's been a broadcaster for the last 16 years and is likely to encounter her own voice out in the wild, Callaghan said it can still feel out of the ordinary.
"I don't know if I'll ever get used to it," said Callaghan. "But I smile when I see it or I see someone share something. I would just kind of be like, 'OK, that's neat.'
"For me, the most mind-blowing thing was [in] the last year, all the celebrities that were using it and I would look at theirs, I'd be like, 'Oh my god! I made your TikTok video in a way, in a really weird way,'" she added. "That part was pretty cool too."
Following her viral TikTok fame, Callaghan has now joined Cameo and offers personalized videos to customers and she hopes to continue doing the work she loves.
"I get up in the morning and I am just blessed to be happy doing it, all the way through, whether it is radio or voiceover. So I'm definitely gonna continue to do that," she said.
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