This episode was written and produced by Nikolas Harter.

The voices inside our navigation systems are with us nearly every day. They frustrate us when they lead us astray, and guide us through our most memorable adventures. But who are the people behind those voices? In this episode, an Australian musician discovers she is the voice inside millions of GPS units, and the Polish voice of Google Maps goes head to head with a robot. Featuring “The GPS Girl” Karen Jacobsen and “Głos Google Maps” Jarosław Juszkiewicz.

MUSIC FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE

Original music by Wesley Slover
Cornicon by Sugartree
Climbing The Mountain by Sound of Picture
Hydroplan by Sound of Picture
Funebana by Sound of Picture
Never Gonna Stop by Spirit City
Pong Delight by Sound of Picture
Imprinter by Sound of Picture
Dust to Dust by Aiolos Rue
About to Land by Saira Ridley
Keeper by Jacob LaValee
Hundred Mile by K2
Firefly by Sound of Picture
Setting Up by Studio J

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View Transcript ▶︎

You're listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz.

[music in]

DMV Voice: Thank you for calling the California department of motor vehicles. For English, press one. Para español, oprima el dos.

There was a time when the most we interacted with digital voices was through answering machines like this.

DMV Voice: Hello. I am Miles, DMV's virtual assistant that provides general information. How can I help you?

Nowadays, we hear digital voices all the time. They're in our smart speakers, our phones… even our vacuums.

Roomba Voice: Please charge Roomba

But before Siri, Alexa, and Roomba, there was one digital voice who many of us already treated like a companion. This voice frustrated us when it led us astray. And it came with us on some of our most memorable adventures.

[music out]

[sfx: car start]

Karen TTS: Ready to navigate. At the next intersection, turn left.

[sfx: blinkers on]

Karen Jacobsen: At the next intersection, turn left.

That's Karen Jacobsen. Karen was the Australian English voice for millions of GPS units.

Karen Jacobsen: My voice was in the Garmin, the Navman, the Tom Tom, the Mio…

[sfx: car drives away]

If you had a GPS unit in your car in the 2005 to 2010 range, there's a good chance you might have heard Karen's voice.

Karen TTS: Turn right onto Southeast Woodstock Boulevard.

Some of you may remember this infamous phrase that triggered when you took a wrong turn.

Karen TTS: Recalculating. Recalculating.

Karen Jacobsen: Recalculating.

At the time, many users went online to complain about this phrase. In 2010, country singer Frank Zaruba even wrote a song about it.

But for others, Karen’s voice was a source of comfort.

Karen Jacobsen: It is still just so wild to think that my speaking voice is considered a companion for some people, and the voice of frustration for others.

[music in]

In 2002, Karen was living in New York City. She was making her way as a singer and musician. One day, her agent passed along an offer to do some voice over work.

Karen Jacobsen: I was contacted that a client was looking for a native Australian female voiceover artist living in the Northeast of the United States. And what they wanted to do was to capture every combination of syllables possible so they could chop it up, and create a voice system based on my speaking voice.

So Karen went into the studio, and started recording.

Karen Jacobsen: This was three weeks of four hours a day. This was a 50 hour mega script.

Here's Karen describing those recordings on an Australian radio show called 3AW Radio.

Karen Jacobsen: I did phrases, sentences… I counted up to a thousand, which kind of makes you go a bit loopy. Uh, I said the word "approximately" approximately 168 times in a row, because it's like, "In approximately one kilometer. In approximately five kilometers." Over and over and you have to stop and take a breath.

[music out]

The people who hired Karen were pretty vague about what this system would be used for. And for Karen, this was brand new territory. Remember, up until then, digital voices were pretty much limited to answering machines.

Karen Jacobsen: And they explained that this was more involved than that.

Karen TTS: Yes, Karen, much more involved.

Karen Jacobsen: I was aware that this could be used for multiple things, but I certainly could not have imagined the ongoing potential of that voice system.

[music in]

Once the recording phase was over, Karen was paid a one-time fee, and that was that. She forgot about the job, and resumed her life as a musician. But then, two years later...

Karen Jacobsen: I received a voicemail message, and a girlfriend called me and said… [sfx: voicemail beep]

Karen Jacobsen:…"Oh, I bought my husband one of those new GPS thing-o's for Christmas." And she said, "You know, we were driving from Maine back to New York City, and he said, 'Oh, let's put it on the Australian voice!' So we did, we put it on the Australian voice, and oh my God, Karen, it's you! It's your voice in the GPS!"

Karen TTS: In 400 feet, you will arrive at your destination.

Karen Jacobsen: And that is how I found out that my voice was in some kind of device.

And it wasn't just friends who noticed Karen's voice.

Karen Jacobsen: At that time there were these chat groups and people who were really into audio or really into voices. And my voice was getting a lot of attention on these chat groups.

One of those websites was called GPS passion.com, where people would say... the kinds of things that people say on the internet. They'd profess their love to "Australian Karen," which was the name for her voice in the GPS settings.

Karen TTS: That's very sweet of you, but I'm afraid my one true love is the open road.

[music out]

But then, Karen’s voice started popping up in other places.

Karen Jacobsen: I arrived at Brisbane airport in Brisbane, Australia, and got into the elevator with my family.

[sfx: elevator door dings and slides closed]

Karen TTS: The doors are closing.

Karen Jacobsen: And my dad said, "Oh, that's your voice in the elevator."

Karen TTS: Going up.

Karen Jacobsen: There's my voice at Brisbane airport in the elevator telling people, “You have arrived on level two.”

And that was just the beginning.

[music in]

Soon enough, people started telling Karen that they heard her voice in movie theaters…

Karen TTS: Refreshments are available in the lobby.

Karen Jacobsen: Taxi companies…

Karen TTS: Your driver should reach you in 15 minutes.

Software applications…

Karen TTS: Restart your computer to finish the update.

Karen Jacobsen: Cruise ships…

Karen TTS: Please stay in your cabin until the boat is fully docked.

Car washes…

Karen TTS: Sud cycle started.

Karen Jacobsen: A lot of hotels…

Karen TTS: To speak to the front desk, press pound.

Karen Jacobsen: It just, it goes on and on.

And then, Karen's voice suddenly showed up in one of the most popular devices of all time.

[sfx: Siri beep]

Karen TTS: I'm Siri, your virtual assistant.

Karen Jacobsen: Oh, yes, I was the original Australian voice of Siri in a billion iPhones. It's really, still to me, pretty wild.

When asked if Apple at least told her this was coming, her response was…

Karen Jacobsen: I had no interaction with the original company after doing the original voice system. Does that answer your question? (laughs)

All of these different uses of Karen's voice came from that one recording she did in 2002. And that was the only one she got paid for.

[music in]

Karen Jacobsen: Look, I think that whether some judicial system would agree or not isn't the game I'm up to. But, just as a human being, taking a basic look at, at what this entity has done and what the artist has received, there's an imbalance.

Karen Jacobsen: I recorded one voice system. And I am not alone here. I am a part of a very big club of voice artists and professionals where there's exploitation going on.

While Karen’s voice was popping up in all of these places, she and her husband hit some hard times financially. They started to take out loans to pay their bills, and before long, they found themselves in six-figure debt.

Karen Jacobsen: Right exactly at the time of the global financial crisis. And by this time, my husband's work had started to dry up. I was six months pregnant with our son, and we were in a beautiful new apartment that we couldn't afford to live in, and we hit rock bottom, and we needed to do something.

[music out]

So, Karen took her family to Australia and moved back in with her parents. That way, they could rent out their apartment in New York.

Karen Jacobsen: …to pay off debts that we'd incurred. Very grateful to have had family help us through that to the other side.

Karen and her husband spent the next year saving money and negotiating with banks. Eventually, they managed to start climbing out of debt. On a strict budget, they were able to move back into their apartment in the US, and get on with their lives. That experience changed Karen's life.

[music in]

Karen Jacobsen: It was key to the realization that I had something to offer. I'd overcome one of the most challenging rock bottom times in my life and come out the other side stronger.

With this newfound confidence, Karen started to reevaluate her career. She started thinking about how people reacted when they recognized her voice. For instance, while she was in Australia, she was invited to come on a morning talk show called Sunrise.

Hi!, We feel like we know you. I feel like I know you too, isn’t that nice?

That reaction was pretty typical.

Karen Jacobsen: People talk to me as if they know me, and they really wanna share the wonderful trips we've taken together. There's an intimacy, which is pretty beautiful.

Karen realized that this connection with total strangers was a kind of superpower. For years, her voice had been following her around, completely out of her control. But Karen saw that if she embraced that voice, she could reclaim that part of herself, and maybe even build a whole new career out of it. So, she started calling herself The GPS Girl.

Karen Jacobsen: The GPS Girl, yes. That felt liberating, actually.

[music out]

Karen began reaching out to news stations, asking if they'd like to talk to the voice inside of GPS systems. And soon enough, the GPS Girl was flying high.

[music in]

Interviewer: If you have a GPS in your car, chances are, you've already spent hours with the woman you're about to meet.

Interviewer: Who exactly is that mystery lady in your GPS?

Interviewer: She's the voice that guides you and soothes you.

Interviewer:Her voice is instantly recognizable.

Karen Jacobsen:“You have reached your destination.”

Interviewer: Oh my God!

Karen Jacobsen:I grew up wanting to sing, and thinking my voice was gonna come out of the car radio. And here I am talking to people, “Recalculating” giving directions in the GPS. It's a complete surprise to me.

Interviewer: Are you the GPS lady?

Karen Jacobsen:Yeah. I am.

[music out]

[sfx: applause]

Karen Jacobsen: Well, definitely it was what I call, uh, “listening to my inner GPS.” It just felt like, “This is right. This is what life is calling me to do.”

But Karen soon decided that The GPS Girl could do more than just appear on talk shows. She might actually be able to make a difference in people’s lives.

[music in]

Karen Jacobsen: I used to think fame was the goal, but impact is actually the goal. Contributing something that uplifts and elevates human beings and humanity.

She got involved with the National Speakers Association, and started working as a motivational speaker. Here she is on the TEDx stage.

Karen Jacobsen: Recalculating can only begin when you are willing to admit you're lost. You can't always choose the things that are happening to us in life, but you can always choose your experience. You can always choose how you react to what is happening.

Karen never regained control of her text-to-speech voice. But, she's OK with that.

Karen Jacobsen: I'm somebody who believes in making the best of my life and moving forward. I can fight with reality, but I find to not fight with reality is a much more pleasant way to live. To be able to feel that alignment with who I really am, and what I'm here for, and keep following the signs, and listening to what life wants of me, that is just such a vastly beautiful way to live. You know, after 53 years on the planet, I feel like I'm just getting started.

Karen TTS: We have reached our destination.

[music out]

[music in]

At its peak, Karen's voice was being heard by millions of people a day. But imagine if that voice had disappeared overnight.

Would Karen's biggest fans have accepted that change? Or would they fight to bring her back?

It turns out, that’s exactly what happened to the voice of Google Maps in Poland.

Jarosław: I decided to record a farewell video. And I knew that it will be popular. But I wasn't expecting what happened next.

That's coming up after the break.

[music out]

MIDROLL

[music in]

In Poland, smartphones took off around 2012. Since then, one man's voice has been heard in nearly every car in the country.

Jaroslaw Clips: Skręć w prawo.

That's the voice of Jaroslaw Juszkiewicz, also known as Jarek.

Jarosław: Jarek it's a nickname for Jaroslaw.

Jarek has worked in Polish radio for almost three decades.

Jarosław: And the biggest role of my life, of course, is that I'm Polish voice of Google Maps.

[music out]

Jaroslaw Clips: Kieruj się na północ.

Just like Karen, people sometimes recognize Jarek's voice… Other times, he likes to give them a little hint.

[sfx: car approaches]

Jarosław: One time, I made a joke when I was using Uber, and the guy was stopping by my house. I exactly know when the system says, “You reach your destinations.” So I said it just with the voice in the guy's phone

[translates into Polish]

Jarosław:And he looked at the phone, looked at me and he said nothing but drove away, you know, with his wheels spinning.

[sfx: wheels spinning on gravel]

[music in]

It all started when one of his contacts reached out to say they had a small voiceover project for something called Google Maps.

Jarosław: And I said, "Eh well, okay." I didn't know what Google Maps means, because it was before smartphones. And I sent my demo and after a few weeks, he sent me a script. It was quite short, I must say, and I recorded it.

The reason this script was so short was because the voice system was much simpler than the one that Karen Jacobsen recorded. Unlike Australian Karen...

Karen TTS: …Who can be made to say pretty much anything.

Jarek’s voice system couldn't say specifics like street names. His directions were cut together from a limited number of phrases. Listen to how, "in 400 meters"

Jaroslaw Clips: Za 400 metrów

Is cut together with "turn left."

Jaroslaw Clips: Skręć w lewo

Here it is.

Jaroslaw Clips: Za 400 metrów, skręć w lewo.

[music out]

At the time, Jarek didn't think much about the job.

Jarosław: No, no. It was one of many jobs. A few months later, I bought a smartphone and I installed Google Maps and my voice was in it.

Jaroslaw Clips: Kieruj się na południowy wschód.

Jarosław: And I showed the telephone to my wife. And that's all.

But as Google Maps spread across the country, more and more people started latching onto this voice.

[music in]

Jarosław: Over the next few years the system started to become very popular in Poland. I was hosting a technological program in my radio station. And from some point, I noticed that my guests are more concerned in making a selfie with me than participating in the program. So that was the first moment I noticed that something is going on.

By 2016, Jarek had started to capitalize on the attention. He was gaining followers on Facebook, and started his own voice acting company. He started calling himself Glos Google Maps, which means voice of Google Maps. This persona even came with a catchphrase.

Jarosław: In fact, I have it on my T-shirt right now. In Polish, it's "Kieruj się na południe," which means "Head South.”

Remember, Jarek’s voice system couldn't say street names.

[sfx: keys in ignition, car engine starts]

So when Poles got in their cars and fired up the navigation, it would just say something like "Head south."

Jaroslaw Clips: Kieruj się na południe.

Jarosław: And you are in the middle of the city. And how should I know where is south?

Much like Karen's catch phrase…

Karen Jacobsen: Recalculating

Some people found "Head south" endearing. Others couldn't stand it.

Jarosław: Because all the time, all my friends were asking me, "How should I find this south?"

[music out]

Online, Jarek bantered with his fans. At one point, he was interviewed in a local paper.

Jarosław: But it wasn't anything close to things that happened on May, 2020.

[music in]

Jarosław: It was a very sad evening. It was Sunday, I remember it was Sunday. And I just got an SMS message from my friend…

[sfx: text notification]

Jarosław: …and she said, “I was driving tonight and you have been replaced by a robot.”

Polish Maps TTS: Don't call me a robot, call me an upgrade.

Polish Maps TTS: I am the new voice of Polish Google Maps. Please excuse my accent. I was not meant to speak English.

For Jarek, being replaced by a text to speech voice wasn't a total shock.

Jarosław: I knew that the moment will come. I knew that it will happen. So I just said, "Okay, one part of my journey is over." And I was not grieving.

Still, Jarek felt like he needed to do something to mark the occasion. He decided to post a farewell video on Youtube, where he explained how to find the cardinal directions once and for all.

[music out]

In the video, Jarek sits in his recording studio. His mouth remains closed, while his voice narrates a farewell poem to the Polish people.

[music in]

Jarosław: As you know, a few days ago, I've been replaced by a soulless machine. Which maybe will take you to your destination, but the machine will never tell you how to recognize the directions of the world.

Jarosław: I would like to remind that the moss is growing on trees, always from the north side. The southern part of every ant hill is flattened from the south. East is a part of horizon where sun goes up, and west is the part of the horizon where it goes to sleep.

With each line, Jarek holds up a drawing made by his eight year old daughter.

Jarosław: And she draw sunset, sunrise, and how to find polar star and how to find the cross of the south.

Jarosław: Now when the mechanical guys will tell you where to go, use this knowledge, smile as beautiful as you can. And remember guy who used to say, “Kieruj się na południe.” Head south.

[music out]

This was actually the first video on Jaroslaw’s Youtube account, so he didn’t expect it to get much attention. But then…

Jarosław: During the next, I don't remember, three, maybe four hours, it had 700,000 views.

In a few days, it was up to three million.

[music in]

Jarosław: I had no idea that so many users of this system are connected with my voice, and I became a part of their life.

On the video, Jarek got a flood of sentimental comments. People said things like, "Even though we didn't always get along, I’ll miss you." Or, "Sometimes you frustrated me, but I always liked the way you said 'the destination is on the left.'"

Jaroslaw Clips: Miejsce docelowe jest po lewej stronie.

This explosion of Youtube views turned Jarek into an overnight celebrity.

Jarosław: The next day, some of the news agencies started to call me, some newspapers. And I appeared on the top of the biggest portals in Poland.

Soon enough, there was an online petition to restore Jarek's voice to Google Maps.

Jarosław: A group of my friends started a campaign, “Bring Jarek back to life.”

[music out]

The signatures started piling up... But it didn't seem to be working.

Jarosław: A lot of people signed it, but I don't think it moved Google.

But while the petition might not have swayed them, there was something else that Google was paying attention to.

Jarosław: I think that the comments under the application in app store started to maybe light up some red warnings in United States.

[sfx: klaxon]

In the Google Maps reviews, Poles were posting things like…

Jarosław: “Bring Jarek back!” “We want our voice! “The new voice is terrible!” “We don't want a robot!”

Jarek compares the new voice to the band Kraftwerk.

Jarosław: You know, this band, We are the Robots.

[clip: Kraftwerk – We Are the Robots]

Jarosław: They are quite popular in Poland. This voice was just like that.

Polish Maps TTS: Come on Jarek. Do I really sound so terrible?

[music in]

Now, this new system was more flexible and specific with its directions. Crucially, it could now say street names. But compared to this new version…

Polish Maps TTS: Miejsce docelowe jest po lewej stronie.

People thought Jarek sounded more human.

Jaroslaw Clips: Miejsce docelowe jest po lewej stronie.

Part of that has to do with the language itself.

Jarosław: We don't have Siri in Poland. That's because Polish is so complicated.

Polish Maps TTS: It's not too complicated for me. I can do anything.

Jarosław: It sounded terrible and it sounded arrogant, I think.

Polish Maps TTS: Oh, and what makes your voice so great, Jarek?

Jarosław: It's not because my voice is so beautiful. It's because I'm not rushing them. I'm not arrogant. I'm just saying… Skręć w prawo.

Jaroslaw Clips: Skręć w prawo.

[music out]

There was about five days of intense online protest, and then Jarek got a message from Google.

[music in]

Jarosław: I've received an email from PR manager of Google in Poland. And he said that they want to apologize me, that they removed my voice without notice. They will want to improve their services, it's a corporate blah, blah, blah.

But at the bottom of that corporate blah blah blah, there was one important detail.

Jarosław: They're informing me that they're bringing me back. And they did (laughs).

In less than one week, Google had totally reversed course. They removed their fancy new voice, and brought Jarek back. For a company that big and powerful, it was a pretty stunning move. Here's their official statement.

Google Statement: We periodically update the voice guidance on Google Maps in order to offer the most helpful experience for users. Given user feedback on the update, we have reverted back to the existing voice while we evaluate future voice improvements.

Polish Maps TTS: I'm gone for now, but I'll be back.

[sfx: T2 sting]

The strange thing is, Google updates their voices all the time. But usually, it doesn’t cause a big fuss. So what was different in Poland? Part of it might have to do with how Poles are used to watching foreign movies and TV shows.

[music in]

Jarosław: There are no subtitles in Polish television, or in foreign films, and dubbing is not very popular. People here don't like dubbing.

Many Poles prefer foreign language films to be translated by a voice talent called a "lektor."

Jarosław: In Poland, we say “lektors,” and there’s a long tradition of it.

Lektors read all the actors' lines in Polish while the original audio plays in the background.

Jarosław: So there's one guy reading the whole script.

Here's a clip from the TV show Friends.

[clip: Friends with lektor]

Jarosław: It's very difficult because the guy who's reading the script has to be transparent. You cannot act. You cannot be lifeless. You should be just in the middle.

Here's another example from Star Wars.

[clip: Star Wars with lektor]

Successful lektors are big celebrities in Poland. One of the most famous ones, Tomasz Knapik, passed away in 2021.

Jarosław: It was a big deal. A lot of people shout at his at his funeral .

Jarek even bought his microphone at a charity auction.

Jarosław: It's sad because when I bought his microphone, I still could smell his, it was a mixture of aftershave and cigarette smoke.

This attachment to lektors might help explain why the Polish people protested to keep Jarek's voice.

Jarosław: I think that Polish people are more attached to voice talents // than in other parts of the world. People like voices who are reading them things. I became their friend. The companion of a trip. It means a lot.

[music in]

Two and a half years later, Jarek's voice is still the one in Polish Google Maps. And after all of the attention his story got, he thinks he’ll be hard to replace... at least, for a while.

Jarosław: Because a lot of people, now they knew me. They know that the voice is not just a voice. It's Jaroslaw Juszkiewicz who lives in Katowice, and he's talking about science, and he works in the local planetarium, et cetera, et cetera.

In other words...

Jarosław: The voice had the face. People attached to me, attached to me and it also opened my eyes because I thought, “Well, maybe I'm a little bit more than just a voice in their cars.”

It's hard to say how long voices like Jarek's will survive. Text to speech systems are just getting better and better. And eventually, they might not even need a human.

Jarosław: Yes, my voice will vanish. One day, the digital voices also in Polish language will be so perfect that you won't be able to recognize them. The only hope for me is that maybe it will stay on videos somewhere in the deep parts of the internet, and maybe someday in the future, someone will hear it.

Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the sound design studios of Defacto Sound. Find out more at Defacto Sound dot com.

This episode was written and produced by Nikolas Harter and Casey Emmerling. With help from Grace East and Andrew Anderson. It was sound designed and edited by Kelly Kramarik and Colin DeVarney.

Thanks to our guests, Karen Jacobson and Jaroslaw Juszkiewicz. To learn more about Karen's work, visit The GPS Girl dot com. To see Jarek's Youtube video that inspired the online protest, click the link in the show description. While you’re over there on YouTube, go subscribe to our channel.

I’m Dallas Taylor. Thanks for listening.

[music out]