#computer voices

[jcsolomons]

This is my own fault for still having a landline, but today, I got a call from a young woman, from Quincy, MA (the home of John Adams), who when I asked her why she was calling, told me her name, and it took a moment to realise she was pausing while the software translated my question.  Is it just me, or do you feel that a computer pretending to be a person is disturbing and annoying. I have never met a computer called Amanda. I know about Siri and Alexa, and whatever that Google voice is called, but please, we know it’s a computer.

[pixelives]

I guess we now know with proximity what the Tessier+Ashpool cloisonné terminal/bust would sound like in Neuromancer. Still, this is amazing and terrifying and fills me with dread and amazement all at the same time.

[drego]

"From voice-mail systems to GPS devices to Siri and beyond, why are so many computerized voices female? One answer may lie in biology. Scientific studies have shown that people generally find women's voices more pleasing than men's. ... Another answer lies in history. According to some sources, the use of female voices in navigation devices dates back to World War II..."  Read more...

(source: CNN)