Spotify is launching an eerie new AI-led feature that mimics podcasters' voices and translates them into different languages
Spotify is launching an eerie new AI-led feature that mimics podcasters' voices and translates them into different languages
Spotify is working with podcasters like Lex Fridman, Bill Simmons, and Steven Bartlett to release AI-generated translations of some podcast episodes.
Bill Simmons, founder of the Spotify-owned podcast network The Ringer, hinted in May that Spotify also planned to use AI trained on the voices of hosts to generate targeted ads for users.
This is what is really messed up to me (emphasis mine).
33IANAL but pretty sure that's illegal.
It violates the right of publicity (which is either state-specific or common law) which is explicitly recognized to include commercial control of the likeness of oneself. That most certainly includes someone's voice. There's probably an argument that for AI generated translations some podcast producers have an interest in that they might wanna agree (broader reach), but with ads that is pretty cut and dry. At that point, I kinda hope the legal department knows this, because otherwise this could do incredible damage to their PR (as anything illegal does).
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It sounded good so I tried this and it's so so at best.
First off, I pay for no ads. To me, a fake DJ attempting to convince me it's a black man talking nonsense is just as bad or worse than ads.
Second, the music choices are early days Pandora bad. It starts off okay then a few songs later it's off on some tangent with no rhyme or reason I can understand.
4Eerie? This is awesome!
4It was until you hit the part in the article about using AI voice generation to target ads. When election season rolls around, we'll get all sorts of clips of people endorsing Trump without their knowledge.
28If 2016 was the post-truth election, 2024 is going be the post-reality era.
13That could already happen with AI technology from months ago. This is not news.
The targeted ads will be that if you follow specific broadcasts, you will get an higher chance to get an ad voiced by a person in that podcast. AI has little to do here, could have always been done.
Unfortunately its use in the US politics its inevitable, with what I am understanding since i've started to follow it.
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Yeah, this sounds like a really GOOD use of AI.
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Spotify is rolling out a new AI feature mimicking the original voice of podcasters and translating them into additional languages for a more "authentic listening experience," the company announced Monday in a blog post.
"A podcast episode originally recorded in English can now be available in other languages while keeping the speaker's distinctive speech characteristics," per Spotify's blog.
Spotify is working with podcasters like Dax Shepard, Monica Padman, Lex Fridman, Bill Simmons and Steven Bartlett to produce voice translations for specific episodes in languages such as Spanish, French, and German.
Bill Simmons, founder of the Spotify-owned podcast network The Ringer, hinted in May that Spotify also planned to use AI trained on the voices of hosts to generate targeted ads for users.
There have been mounting concerns in the entertainment industry about the impact of AI being used to clone the voices of musicians, actors, and presenters without their consent or providing financial compensation.
Actor and comedian Stephen Fry also recently said that an AI had ingested his readings of the "Harry Potter" books and subsequently recreated his voice.
The original article contains 285 words, the summary contains 178 words. Saved 38%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
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