Google DeepMind unit develops new AI that can mimic human speech

In a recent announcement, researchers at Google's Britain-based DeepMind unit have revealed that they have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) technology which has the capability to mimic the sound of human voice. The new AI technology developed by DeepMind researchers is called WaveNet. It marks the achievement of a new milestone in the company's AI project. According to DeepMind researchers, the breakthrough WaveNet technology can be described as a deep neural network which is capable of generating raw audio wave forms to produce speech. The technology can apparently outperform the currently-in-use Text-to-Speech systems by reducing the gap in human performance -- which could be demonstrated in an actual AI, that is, human conversation -- by up to 50 percent. Moreover, WaveNet - which can presently use only the English and Chinese languages - also boasts the ability to learn different voices and speech patterns to such an extent that it can not only simulate mouth movements and artificial breaths, but also accents, emotions, and language inflections.