人工智能也有性别：Siri为啥是女的？

If you ask Siri what gender it is, the iPhone 4S personal assistant doesn't give a clear answer. But many have assumed from its tone that Siri is female (in most countries anyway -- in France and the UK, Siri's voice is masculine).

如果你使用苹果iPhone 4S的语音功能Siri，问它是男是女，它可能不会给你明确的答案。但是，通过Siri的音调来判断，大多数人认为它是女的（在大多数国家Siri用的是女声，在法国和英国用的是男声）。

From GPS devices to voicemail boxes, most computerized voices are female. The reason likely boils down to psychology.

从全球定位系统到语音信箱，大多数人工智能的声音都是女声，其中的原因可能要归结于心理学。

Scientific studies have found that humans prefer the sound of a woman's voice to a man's. The preference begins at an early age too. Stanford University professor Clifford Nass cites a study in which fetuses react to their mother's voice, but not to other female voices or their father's voice.

科学研究发现，比起男声，人们更喜欢女声，而且这种偏好从婴儿形成的时候就开始了。斯坦福大学教授克利福德·奈斯引用一项研究来说明，胎儿只对其母亲的声音做出反应，而不会对其他女性或者其父亲的声音做出反应。

Is there another possible reason for all of the female computer voices?

还有其他的原因来说明为什么人工智能都用女声吗？

Our history, says CNN's Brandon Griggs. "According to some sources, the use of female voices in navigation devices dates back to World War II, when women's voices were employed in airplane cockpits because they stood out among the male pilots. And telephone operators have traditionally been female, making people accustomed to getting assistance from a disembodied woman's voice."

CNN的布兰登·格里格斯说，“这与历史有关。根据资料显示，最早在二战的时候。飞机驾驶舱中的导航设备使用的就是女声，因为在男性飞行员中，女声更能被辨识出来。而且，传统上来说，电话接线员都是女性，这就让人们习惯于从没有实体的女性声音那里来获得帮助。”