Media
Spotify buys an AI startup that turns text into 'realistic' speech
Spotify's string of recent acquisitions now includes a potentially huge text-to-speech upgrade. The streaming music service is acquiring Sonantic, a startup that uses AI to produce "stunningly realistic" voices from text. While Spotify didn't divulge its exact plans for the purchase, it teased multiple potential improvements. Sonantic's tech could provide context for upcoming recommendations even when you aren't looking at your screen, Spotify said. The AI voice platform could also "reduce barriers" for new audio experiences.
'I put on 40 pounds of muscle. Holy mackerel!' Pablo Schreiber on playing Halo's ripped hero
And so, after 17 years of false starts, numerous failed attempts at feature films (including a Peter Jackson venture), more than 265 drafts, a reported budget of $200m and a production schedule in Hungary decimated by the pandemic, we are finally set to see a TV series of the video game Halo. Will it have been worth such perseverance? Since the release of the first video game in Microsoft's crown jewel franchise – 2001's Halo: Combat Evolved – the series has sold more than 81m games, generating in excess of $6bn. If a network sticks the landing, a Halo TV show could be a significant weapon in its arsenal. For the uninitiated: Halo takes place at a time of intergalactic war between humans and a collective of quasi-religious alien species known as the Covenant.
Google Engineer On Leave After He Claims AI Program Has Gone Sentient
A Google engineer is speaking out since the company placed him on administrative leave after he told his bosses an artificial intelligence program he was working with is now sentient. Blake Lemoine reached his conclusion after conversing since last fall with LaMDA, Google's artificially intelligent chatbot generator, what he calls part of a "hive mind." He was supposed to test if his conversation partner used discriminatory language or hate speech. As he and LaMDA messaged each other recently about religion, the AI talked about "personhood" and "rights," he told The Washington Post. It was just one of the many startling "talks" Lemoine has had with LaMDA.