Ann Syrdal, Who Helped Give Computers a Female Voice, Dies at 74
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
https://www.businessinsider.com/google-assistants-voice-mean...
All that said, TTS quality has really improved in the past 10 years, it always amazes me.
[0] https://people.uea.ac.uk/en/publications/effect-of-reninangi...