“ Your scientists were so bemused with whether they could , they did n’t stop to retrieve if they should . ”
When Dr. Ian Malcolm ( Jeff Goldblum)utteredthis often - cite line in 1993’sJurassic Park , he was talking about the inherited Resurrection of Christ ofdinosaurs — or , more specifically , the commodification of that might .
But the parameter could easily be applied to a more recent ( and not fictional ) development : That Amazon’sAlexatechnology has progressed to the detail where it can now mime the voice of any somebody , exist or dead . And you wo n’t have to bung your Alexa - compatible gadget hours ’ worth of immortalise audio frequency in ordering to sire a satisfactory autotype — it can do it with less than one strong minute of speech .
AsVarietyreports , Amazon announced the news earlier this hebdomad atre : MARS , a Las Vegas group discussion covering the former in machine - learnedness , automation , robotics , and infinite engineering ( hence the acronym MARS ) . While unveiling the new capability during the event — against a backdrop bearing the words “ homo - like empathy”—Rohit Prasad , senior vice president and head teacher scientist for Alexa AI , described it as something that “ enables lasting personal relationship . ”
He then rolled a cartridge holder of a young boyasking Alexaif Grandma could “ finish read meThe Wizard of Oz ? ” with the tacit implication that Grandma was out of reach , and not because her phone was numb . Judging by the grandson ’s apparent delight , we ’re forced to close that Alexa ’s impression of his dear gran pass conscription . Or maybe he ’s just huff that the Cowardly Lion in conclusion found his inner courage .
It ’s not the first time Alexa has spoken with a intimate voice;Samuel L. Jacksonand other celebrities have bestow their flavour to it in the past , though not without recording spate of audio for it . The difference now , as Prasad explain , is that developer pivoted from generating speech to convert delivery into another interpreter .
While similarvoice - cloning technologyhas already come in handy in the entertainment manufacture — most notably in theStar Warsuniverse — it ’s unclear how many people would require the aural ghost of a deceased loved one float through the rooms of their own houses . Amazon has n’t announced a public release date , so we ’ll have to wait and see .
[ h / tVariety ]
