Look who's talking - the rise of ‘voice cloning’
Analysis
BBC
4.6 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 October 2021
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When you listen to a radio programme, watch an animated film, or even receive a phone call, it’s unlikely you’ll question whether the words you’re hearing are coming from the mouth of a human being. But all that could be about to change thanks to the rise of ‘voice cloning’.
Elaine Moore is a tech columnist at the Financial Times and she’s interested in the ramifications of this new technology. Thanks to artificial intelligence, cloning a human voice can be achieved with just a few minutes of recorded audio. As the technology becomes more sophisticated and its use more widespread, how will this affect our society, our politics and our personal interactions? And is it time we were able to control what happens to our own voice both now and when we die?
With contributions from: Carlton Daniel, lawyer at Squire Patton Boggs. Tom Lee, co-founder of LOVO. David Leslie, Ethics Theme Lead at the Alan Turing Institute. Rupal Patel, founder & CEO of VocaliD. Tim McSmythurs, AI Researcher and creator of Speaking AI. James Vlahos, co-founder of HereAfter AI.
Producer: Craig Templeton Smith Editor: Jasper Corbett
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.6 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.4 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable |
| 0:14.3 | experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC |
| 0:20.4 | makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:41.0 | Hello, my name is Elaine Moore and I'm a tech columnist at the financial podcasts. sure you that's not me. I'm the real Elaine. This is my addition of analysis. |
| 0:54.0 | It sounds like me, doesn't it, but it's not me. |
| 0:57.0 | That's my clone. |
| 0:58.0 | I'm no clone. |
| 1:00.0 | Get your own voice. |
| 1:01.0 | Over the next half hour, I'm going to introduce you to rapidly |
| 1:04.0 | evolving technology that could change the way we interact with one another and |
| 1:07.6 | how we engage with the world. Give me the mite. I won't be silenced. |
| 1:11.7 | Hang on a minute I'll just turn that off. |
| 1:14.0 | Okay. |
| 1:15.0 | Welcome to the world of artificially intelligent voice cloning. |
| 1:18.0 | My name is Heisenberg, and I'm here to teach you a lesson. |
| 1:26.0 | A chemistry lesson. This mystery element was discovered in 1890. |
| 1:29.0 | Search the entire galaxy to find the love of your life. |
... |
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