Meta's AI Can Now Talk To You In the Voices of Awkwafina, John Cena, and Judi Dench 27
At its Connect event earlier this week, Meta said it'll be adding conversational voices to its AI chatbot from celebrities like Awkwafina, John Cena, Dame Judi Dench, Keegan-Michael Key and Kristen Bell. The Verge reports: These celebrity voices will only be available to US users of Meta's apps to start. And if you prefer a voice that is a little more mundane, you can also pick from non-celeb voices with names like "Aspen," "Atlas," or "Clover." [...] Meta is explicitly announcing celebrity partnerships, which likely involve payment or some other deal. Meta hasn't shared those details, but the company has paid each celebrity "millions of dollars" for their voices, according to The Wall Street Journal. And in negotiations, some of the people reportedly wanted to limit what their voices could say and to make sure they weren't liable if Meta AI was used. [...]
Meta's AI updates aren't just about voice conversations. Its chatbot will also now "answer questions about your photos" when you upload images. Send a picture of a cake, ask how to make it, and it'll grab you a recipe that hopefully does just that. And if you want something "added, changed, or removed" from an image, Meta says you can describe anything from "changing your outfit to replacing the background with a rainbow," and it'll carry out that request.
Meta's AI updates aren't just about voice conversations. Its chatbot will also now "answer questions about your photos" when you upload images. Send a picture of a cake, ask how to make it, and it'll grab you a recipe that hopefully does just that. And if you want something "added, changed, or removed" from an image, Meta says you can describe anything from "changing your outfit to replacing the background with a rainbow," and it'll carry out that request.
Surely they can do better. (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Surely they can do better. (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Gilbert was famous for taking mini shampoo bottles and soap from hotels, so the answer is yes.
Re: (Score:2)
It looks like you're writing a letter! [youtu.be]
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
I want Bobcat Goldthwaite.
Sam Kinison. I want to hear my AI scream!
Re: (Score:2)
I vote for Gilbert Gottfried.
john cena says vote trump! (Score:1)
john cena says vote trump!
Manufacturing celebrity (Score:1)
Not buying it. Maybe try to sell it in Haiti. Oh wait!
who? (Score:3)
I've honestly never heard of these people.
Maybe I should get out more. :/
Re: (Score:2)
No, don't,
Re: (Score:2)
A B-list actor, a not-that-great rapper, and some other dude. Probably they were first or cheapest to reply, from a list that a statistically-diverse group of Facebook employees picked.
This is aimed at people who don't "get out". People for whom talking to an AI is appealing. Not quite the stereotype "basement dweller" nerd - think empty-nester grandparents, lonely middle-aged plumbers, and incel types.
If nothing else, Facebook knows their market - intimately.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: who? (Score:2)
Re: who? (Score:1)
I only know John Cena because kids in my school were WWE fans and later the memes, Judi Dench from James Bond and other movies, Aquafina is a brand of water, Kirsten Bell does one of those Netflix comedy specials, which you watch like 5 minutes of, she has a grating voice and similar jokes.
Re: (Score:2)
I've honestly never heard of these people.
Maybe I should get out more. :/
If it were just the other two you'd be fine, but Dame Judy Dench? This rock you're hiding under must double as a nuclear shelter.
Not as advertised (Score:1)
\o/ (Score:1)
There's at least one bank I know of which uses voice fingerprinting as a password for phone banking.
Re: Obligatory (Score:1)
Yes - pretty much exactly that
John Cena (Score:2)
Can the AI use John Cena's voice and speak in Mandarin? Cause the real John Cena can speak in Mandarin.
Awkwafina (Score:3)
I've never heard of Awkwafina. Is she an influential Awk proponent or educator? I'm more of a Gawk man myself, since I had occasional problems with Awk that I could never figure out.
Though these days I use Perl for text processing, since I appreciate its consistent user interface.
Good voices were too expensive? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Freeman, it would cost a fortune, the thing is people don't want to give up their voices. I would find college kids who are musically skilled enough to to do improvisational jazz and love English, keep them just a little stoned for the training, and then roll their voices into unified new voices distinct from each of them. It will be better then any celeb. You need musicality of the expression for the AI, you need flowing not annoying, tones you can listen to long term.
Re: (Score:2)
John Cena and Awkwafina don't have special voices. Morgan Freeman is an obvious choice. I'd also pick Ralph Ineson, Keanu Reeves, Ian Mckellen
I'd go for Mark A Sheppard and his late father, W Morgan Sheppard, both of whom have very recognisable and distinct voices you'd know from various TV roles.
English with Mexican accent (Score:1)