The Download: diversifying AI voices, and a science-fiction glimpse into the future

But the default voices for these assistants are often white American--British, if you're lucky--and most definitely speak English. And if you're one of the billions of people who don't speak English, bad luck: These tools don't sound nearly as good in other languages. This is because the data that has gone into training these models is limited. In AI research, most data used to train models is extracted from the English-language internet, which reflects Anglo-American culture. But there is a massive grassroots effort underway to change this status quo and bring more transparency and diversity to what AI sounds like.