Amazon's Alexa will be able to revive the voices of deceased relatives, allowing users to feel as if they are speaking to lost ones beyond the grave.
In a video shown on stage, Amazon demonstrated how, instead of Alexa's signature voice reading a story to a young boy, it was his grandmother's voice.
Rohit Prasad, an Amazon senior vice president, said the updated system will be able to collect enough voice data from less than a minute of audio to make personalization like this possible, rather than having someone spend hours in a recording studio like how it's done in the past.
The concept starts from Amazon looking at new ways to add more "human features" to artificial intelligence, especially "in these times of the ongoing pandemic, when so many of us have lost someone we love," Prasad said. "While AI can't rid that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last. "
Amazon has long used AI recreations of people's voices to voice Alexa. But they have also increasingly improved over the past few years, particularly with the use of AI and deep-fake technology.
However, Amazon's attempt at personalized Alexa voices may struggle most with the weird valley effect——recreating a voice that is so similar to a loved one's but isn't quite right, which leads to rejection by real humans. "For some, they will view this as creepy or outright terrible, but for others it could be viewed in a more profound way, perhaps for the first time and in a way that isn't a strict recording from the past. " said Michael Inouye of ABI Research. He believes, however, the varying reactions to announcements like this speak to how society will have to adjust to the promise of innovations and their eventual reality in the years ahead.
The technology is also likely to lead to fears that it could be used to impersonate living people, which could be used to bypass security systems. In 2019, a manager at a British energy company lost almost £ 200,000 after criminals used AI to fake his boss's voice, directing him to transfer the company's funds to a foreign bank account.
