AI update

20 minutes into the future

It’s a week before Christmas, and there’s a ton going on, so I’m going to give you a quick update on some AI-related news since my post two weeks ago. I’ll be taking the week off next week for the holiday, so you won’t hear from me again (except for podcast updates) until 2024.

First: The Calm meditation app has gone where no grave-robber has gone before and generated the voice of Jimmy Stewart to read its subscribers a new bedtime story called “It’s a Wonderful Sleep Story.”

I’m not sold on it as a great impersonation, myself (you can listen to the first 30 seconds in the linked article), though the introduction seems solid to me—though there was probably plenty of actual audio of Stewart introducing himself for that. His family is reportedly thrilled with the results, though the cynic in me assumes that means they’re thrilled with the income.

What I find especially interesting about this story is that it didn’t bother me as much to hear that James Earl Jones is no longer doing voice work because there’s now software that can do it for him.

I think the reason I’m not (quite) as bothered here is that James Earl Jones is now 92 years old and deserves a break—and also made a conscious choice to allow his voice to be used this way. Jimmy Stewart most certainly did not. And it just feels weird to me to bring someone back from the grave this way.

The same company, Respeecher, is handling both voices—created the younger Mark Hamill voice for Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian—and claims to have a strong ethical approach to the work, but I’m just not sure about the ethics of the work in the first place. And even if they are as good about it as they say, I’ve seen way too much science fiction to believe it’ll stay that way. Other companies likely won’t care if they see dollar signs off in the distance.

Next up: There’s a new news station in town, called Channel 1, and it’s powered by AI. Including the ability to translate not only foreign languages, but make it look like the speakers are speaking the translated language.

I’m not kidding:

Maybe it’s the five and a half years I spent in French classes, but I really think something’s lost when you can’t hear a Frenchman complaining about storm damage in his native tongue. It’s just not the same. It also basically is using deepfake tech for news, which, if it doesn’t actually cross an ethical line, sure snuggles right up to it.

And then there are the questoins of how footage like this will affect things like legal proceedings. Will it be admissable as evidence? Will you be able to tell the difference if someone fakes video to be used as evidence?

And of course, what’s wrong with a good old-fashioned subtitle in the first place?

On the bright side, they seem to be planning to label AI content pretty obviously, as you may have noticed in that clip, but again… not everyone will. And when you get to the point of AI generated newscasters and reporting, I can’t not think we’re heading into the Twilight Zone.

Or 20 minutes into the future.

Max knew.

You can read Ars Technica’s take on Network 23 Channel 1 here.

For some more positive news, I realized today that one place where AI is actually turning out to be useful (and not terribly scary) is photo and video processing. It’s being used to do things like restore old photos, upscale low-res video, and otherwise improve image quality. That’s a use I can get behind.

And finally, I was reminded of this Shel Silverstein gem in a recent conversation about ChatGPT on social media, and thought you might appreciate it, too.

Homework Machine

The Homework Machine,
Oh, the Homework Machine,
Most perfect
contraption that's ever been seen.
Just put in your homework, then drop in a dime,
Snap on the switch, and in ten seconds' time,
Your homework comes out, quick and clean as can be.
Here it is— 'nine plus four?' and the answer is 'three.'
Three?
Oh me . . .
I guess it's not as perfect
As I thought it would be.

—Shel Silverstein

And on that note, I wish you a happy end to 2023. Stay tuned on Wednesday for the Christmas podcast replay—not only my favorite interview of the year, but one of my favorites of all time.