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Flirting With Artificial Intelligence... No, Really

AI audio gets emotional

Yikes or Likes?

Artificial intelligence (AI) already plays a huge part in our lives, underpinning a lot of our 'choices' on where to eat, what to watch, which news and products we are exposed to and so on. Increasingly, life-or-death judgments formerly made by the likes of pilots and doctors are in the hands and minds of AI.
And now, computer-generated (CG) audio seems ready to toy with our emotions.UK-based software company Sonantic has launched this video, which they say:

"...marks two significant breakthroughs in Sonantic’s technology, as we’ve perfected subtle emotions and non-speech sounds such as laughing and breathing."

On the advertising side...Deepfake already offers facial mash-ups to make life easier, eliminate costs and avoid legal tangles. With CG audio, think how many voices you'll be able to hire and fire without any backchat from arsey voice talents.But it's not just about tech replacing jobs, it goes beyond, to tech replacing human relationships. 
The 2013 movie, 'Her' tells the story of a lonely man played by Joaquin Phoenix falling for a virtual assistant, personified by a female voice (Scarlett Johansson), which is called Samantha.
What's Her Secret?The CG audio ad raises a variety of reactions, including a male viewer saying he would engage in a relationship with a disembodied CG voice "in a heartbeat". A human voice has no heartbeat but it does depend on one, it does express heartfelt emotions.
The phrase 'What's your/his/her secret?' is usually applied to an individual's success.It seems 'her' secret in this case is not to be real, i.e. not sentient, not capable of either feeling or inflicting damage.
Compliance v submissionThe tech giants drew flak when home appliances such as Siri, Cortana and Alexa were all launched with female voices, sparking conversation about the societal implications of anyone, including the kids, being able to bark orders at a feminised machine without any pleases or thank yous.The difference between compliance and submission hinges on the level of personal agency/choice as opposed to surrender.

Does anyone else get chills at the final sentence in this ad:-

"What do you want me to say?"?



Posted by Tree Elven on 19/04/2022

Keywords: Artificial intelligence in advertising, AI generated audio, Sonantic, AI audio, taboo topics, controversy in ad campaigns

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