Tech
Exclusive: Amazon shows off Alexa feature that mimics the voices of your dead relatives
#Amazon #shows #Alexa #feature #mimics #voices #dead #relatives
Amazon has revealed an experimental Alexa feature that allows the AI assistant to mimic the voices of users’ dead relatives.
The company demoed the feature at its annual MARS conference, showing a video in which a child asks Alexa to read a bedtime story in the voice of his dead grandmother.
“As you saw in this experience, instead of Alexa’s voice reading the book, it’s the kid’s grandma’s voice,” said Rohit Prasad, Amazon’s head scientist for Alexa AI. Prasad introduced the clip by saying that adding “human attributes” to AI systems was increasingly important “in these times of the ongoing pandemic, when so many of us have lost someone we love.”
“While AI can’t eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last,” said Prasad. You can watch the demo itself below:
Amazon has given no indication whether this feature will ever be made public, but says its systems can learn to imitate someone’s voice from just a single minute of recorded audio. In an age of abundant videos and voice notes, this means it’s well within the average consumer’s reach to clone the voices of loved ones — or anyone else they like.
Although this specific application is already controversial, with users on social media calling the feature “creepy” and a “monstrosity,” such AI voice mimicry has become increasingly common in recent years. These imitations are often known as “audio deepfakes” and are already regularly used in industries like podcasting, film and TV, and video games.
Many audio recording suites, for example, offer users the option to clone individual voices from their recordings. That way, if a podcast host flubs her or his line, for example, a sound engineer can edit what they’ve said simply by typing in a new script. Replicating lines of seamless speech requires a lot of work, but very small edits can be made with a few clicks.
The same technology has been used in film, too. Last year, it was revealed that a documentary about the life of chef Anthony Bourdain, who died in 2018, used AI to clone his voice in order to read quotes from emails he sent. Many fans were disgusted by the application of the technology, calling it “ghoulish” and “deceptive.” Others defended the use of the technology as similar to other reconstructions used in documentaries.
Amazon’s Prasad said the feature could enable customers to have “lasting personal relationships” with the deceased, and it’s certainly true that many people around the world are already using AI for this purpose. People have already created chatbots that imitate dead loved ones, for example, training AI based on stored conversations. Adding accurate voices to these systems — or even video avatars — is entirely possible using today’s AI technology, and is likely to become more widespread.
However, whether or not customers will want their dead loved ones to become digital AI puppets is another matter entirely.
Tech
Exclusive: Why I’m skipping the iPhone 14 and holding onto my mini for another year – TalkOfNews.com
#skipping #iPhone #holding #mini #year
I come here not to bury the iPhone mini but to praise it. If reports are true, the iPhone 13 mini will be the last of its line, replaced by a larger iPhone 14 Max this fall. And as someone who owns and loves an iPhone 13 mini, this makes me sad.
It seems that not enough people share my love for the iPhone 13 mini for Apple to update it for the iPhone 14 generation. No matter: The iPhone 13 mini is a great device. So great, in fact, that I suspect we haven’t seen the end of its design yet.
In praise of the little guy
There’s no denying it: people love big phones. The iPhone went on a huge growth tear the moment Apple made it larger with the iPhone 6 generation. Sales figures seem to bear it out. I won’t deny that my love of smaller phones makes me a niche iPhone buyer.
But… do people really love big phones? I think they love big screens showing more information and playing bigger movies. I’m not sure they love the extra weight, the extra volume, the extra amount of bulk in the pocket–but it’s worth the trade-off for that big, bright screen.
Users love big screens, but do they really love big phones?
Michael Simon/IDG
Every year I have the privilege of using all of Apple’s iPhones as part of the process of reviewing them. And for the past two years, I’ve kept coming back to the iPhone mini design.
First off, it’s a non-Pro iPhone. And while reasonable people can differ, I think that in the iPhone 12 and 13 generations, Apple’s iPhone Pro design is worse than that of the non-Pro models. From the bright colors on the back of the devices to the gorgeous anodized aluminum frame, give me the iPhone 13 mini over a duller iPhone 13 Pro any day.
At 5.2 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide, it’s small–meaning it fits well in my hand and my pocket–and yet has a 5.4-inch display that’s perfectly capable of giving apps plenty of room to stretch out. It’s a look that harkens back to the iPhone 5 era, my favorite era of iPhone design. But the iPhone mini’s screen is vastly larger than that on the iPhone 5, thanks to its use of Face ID.
And while battery life on the iPhone mini is undoubtedly less than on other iPhones, I need to point out that Apple did a great job boosting the battery life on the iPhone 13 models. The iPhone 12 mini’s battery life was a little sketchy, honestly. The iPhone 13 mini? Not a problem.
Yes, if you use an iPhone mini, you will miss out on some key features of the iPhone Pro models. I’m currently using an iPhone 13 Pro with a beta of iOS 16, and I’m constantly reminded that the cheaper phones don’t have ProMotion or that extra camera on the back. And yet, whenever I hold the larger phone in my hand or put it in my pocket, I am turned off by its size. Why carry a brick in your pocket if you don’t have to?
It’s dead, Jim
But this is beside the point, right? The iPhone 14 mini is, apparently, not a product that will exist. Now that I’ve praised the mini, I need to bury it. But… will I?
First, let’s consider the report that the iPhone 14 line will only feature a new A16 processor on the Pro phone models. So not only would the regular iPhone 14 models not get access to rumored innovations like an always-on display, they might not be any faster than the current-year models!
I’m sure Apple will make a few upgrades to the iPhone 14 models that will push them slightly past the iPhone 13 in terms of specs, but on the low end, this is potentially the least impressive iPhone upgrade in years. And it means that the iPhone 13 mini will get another year where it’s more or less a current phone. I’ll take it.
And then there’s the inevitable future: I really do believe the iPhone mini design will be back. One possibility is for Apple to simply alternate between iPhone models so that the mini appears one year and the Max the next. It’s also not impossible that Apple might just bring the mini design back every few years since it obviously has a following–just not a big one.
Then there’s the iPhone SE, which was recently updated to a third-generation model. Using the iPhone mini as the basis of a new iPhone SE would make sense, as the iPhone mini is superior to the current SE in every way. Even though it’s slightly smaller, it’s got a bigger screen, support for Face ID, and a second rear camera.
The truth is, the iPhone mini is just too good a product–and a size–for Apple to ignore completely. I’m still sad that it’s apparently not popular enough to merit a new version every year, but I can’t believe it’s gone for good. In the meantime, I’ll be holding on to my iPhone 13 mini–and waiting on the mini’s inevitable return.
Tech
Exclusive: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Opening Titles Still Somehow Rule as an N64 Game – TalkOfNews.com
#Star #Trek #Deep #Space #Nine039s #Opening #Titles #Rule #N64 #Game
Star Trek has had an up-and-down history with video games, sometimes managing to succeed in gaming genres it arguably shouldn’t, while never managing to quite succeed in the ones it should. There’s been plenty of great ones, but now a very cool little animation imagines one of its finest entries getting a ‘90s tie-in that never was.
Twitter user SpinaSanctuary’s hypothetical title screen for a mid-’90s Deep Space Nine game on the Nintendo 64 imagines a sideways glance where the platform that gave us Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire instead took a visit to the Gamma Quadrant for some licensed gaming goodness, essentially riffing on the opening moments of Deep Space Nine’s own title sequence, but in a gloriously polygonal retro style.
What could’ve Star Trek 64: Deep Space Nine even been? An adventure game aboard the station? A starship strategy game set during the Dominion War? A retail management sim dedicated to the Promenade á la Roller Coaster Tycoon or Theme Park World? A first person shooter like Voyager got with the Elite Force games, that shouldn’t make sense, but totally does? Whatever it would’ve been, this cute little “demake” has me wishing we could’ve found out.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
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