Interesting video and article about text-to-speech technology. Should voice talent really be nervous about this? Yes, the companies are getting better at making synthesized speech sound more human but there ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby. And, maybe it’s just me, but in the video, Allison Duffy sounds robotic to my ears. Even though she says they want her to sound like herself, she sounds like an android. Corporate secrecy and robotic voices, this is all very Philip K. Dick, don’t you think?
Related, my favorite quote from the article has got to be:
EARLY ROBOTIC VOICES SOUNDED ROBOTIC BECAUSE THEY WERE TOTALLY ROBOTIC
I know they mean that the early robotic voices were completely synthesized but I can’t help but read totally in this case as a Spicoli totally.
Totally awesome article, dudes.