What's happened
OpenAI has developed Voice Engine, a tool that can clone human voices from short audio samples. The company is cautious about releasing the technology widely due to concerns about misuse, especially during the 2024 election.
Why it matters
OpenAI's Voice Engine tool has significant implications for voice technology, offering both positive applications like reading assistance and potential risks of misuse, especially during sensitive periods like elections. The decision to delay wider release shows a responsible approach to the potential societal impact of synthetic voices.
What the papers say
The New York Times reports on OpenAI's development of Voice Engine, highlighting concerns about potential misuse during the 2024 election. Ars Technica discusses the company's decision to allow ChatGPT users to access the AI assistant without signing in, emphasizing the importance of data gathering for training future AI models. The Independent covers OpenAI's unveiling of Voice Engine, noting the company's decision not to release the technology publicly due to safety concerns.
How we got here
OpenAI's Voice Engine tool was first developed in 2022 and has since been tested by a small group of businesses. The tool can replicate a person's voice based on a 15-second audio sample, offering applications in reading assistance, language translation, and voice restoration.
Common question
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OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory consisting of the for-profit corporation OpenAI LP and its parent company, the non-profit OpenAI Inc.
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ChatGPT is a prototype artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI that focuses on usability and dialogue. The chatbot uses a large language model trained with reinforcement learning and is based on the GPT-3.5 architecture.