Researchers atSesame AIhave launched a new conversational speech model (CSM).
However, good luck trying the tech yourself.
We tried and could only get to a message saying Sesame is trying to scale to capacity.
This method is similar to OpenAI’s voice models, and the similarities are apparent.
While groundbreaking, the technology has raised significant questions about its societal impact.
Reactions to the tech have varied from amazed and excited to disturbed and concerned.
These subtleties add to the realism and could help the tech bridge the uncanny valley in future iterations.
Users have praised the system for its expressiveness, often feeling like they’re talking to a real person.
Some even mentioned forming emotional connections.
However, not everyone has reacted positively to the demo.
PCWorld’s Mark Hachman noted that the female versionremindedhim of an ex-girlfriend.
The chatbot asked him questions as if trying to establish “intimacy” which made him extremely uncomfortable.
“That’s not what I wanted, at all.
“It wasn’t exactly like [my ex], but close enough.
I was so freaked out by talking to this AI that I had to leave.”
Many people share Hachman’s mixed emotions.
The natural-sounding voices cause discomfort, which we have seen in similar efforts.
We will continue seeing such reactions as AI technology becomes more personal and realistic.
The claims seem dubious, but you could judge for yourself (below).
Scammers could exploit Sesame’s technology to pull off elaborate social-engineering attacks, creating more effective scam campaigns.
Even though Sesame’s current demo doesn’t clone voices, that technology is well advanced, too.
Voice cloning has become so good that some people have alreadyadoptedsecret phrases shared with family members for identity verification.
