This paper proposes a convolutional neural network based model to reconstruct a face from spoken speech. The training is done by using supervised GAN. The problem is novel, but the model itself is not so much as using encoder (or embedder) and decoder (or generator) is quite standard, and supervised GAN training has also been popularly used, so in that perspective, its novelty is incremental. But I think this paper needs more thorough experimental study to show the effectiveness of the proposed model: 1. From the experimental results, I suspect that the generated faces only match those attributes (gender, race, etc.) but not much about identities.

The paper proposes a very novel method that creates an estimate of a face from a voice and works as a supervised method . The reviewers initially were not so convinced and with some disagree. The rebuttal was satisfying so that also one reviewer changed its score from weak rejection to acceptance. Thus, after a discussion with the Senior Area chair, the paper is accepted . This meta-review was reviewed and revised by the Program Chairs, based on discussions with the Senior Area Chair.

Medallia, Inc., the global leader in customer and employee experience, announced that Travelodge, the UK's largest independent hotel brand, has implemented Medallia's experience management platform to power its new Voice of the Customer programme. Medallia's technology has been rolled out across 590 Travelodge hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain, providing the hotel brand with a consolidated and real-time view into the customer experience. Travelodge (UK) has deployed the full suite of Medallia's experience management platform – implementing a combination of data analytics, artificial intelligence, and active listening. The platform also offers real-time integration with Travelodge's social channels and review sites, such as Tripadvisor and Google Reviews, as well as its hotel management tools, allowing it to cross-check customer feedback with quality processes such as room checks. Medallia's platform provides Travelodge with a comprehensive view into the customer voice across all channels in real-time, allowing its hotel managers and leadership team to proactively identify early warning signals.

Meta today showed off an AI powered'concept' for creating virtual reality worlds with your voice, called Builder Bot. Instead of placing objects from a user interface with controllers, Builder Bot is shown to let you create by simply describing out loud what you want. In the demo, Mark Zuckerberg asks for a beach, then for a specific type of clouds, then props like trees and a picnic. His colleague is even able to ask for specific ambient background sounds and Zuckerberg asks the stereo to play a music genre. Zuckerberg describes Builder Bot as a "concept", warning that "there are a lot of challenges we still need to solve".

"I don't think you'll ever figure [Andy] Warhol out, and I hope no one ever does," art critic Donna de Salvo says in the trailer for Netflix's upcoming docuseries, The Andy Warhol Diaries. Ironically, though, it is that very series--with the help of Warhol's diaries and some artificial intelligence--attempting to do just that. The Andy Warhol Diaries, a six-part series from super-producer Ryan Murphy will explore the life of the artist, from his birth in Pittsburgh to Austria-Hungarian immigrants to his immense fame, various relationships, and eventual death. For over ten years beginning in 1976, Warhol would often call up his longtime friend, journalist Pat Hackett, and dictate his diary to her, which she later edited and published in 1989. Now, Murphy and director Andrew Rossi are using Warhol's own words, and the testimonials of everyone from John Waters and Debbie Harry to Rob Lowe, to dive into the still-mysterious life of the icon.

NEARLY 40 AND SINGLE, Tracy Morris had been online dating for a while, but she wasn't about to settle. Not for the man who turned out to have a whiny, mewling voice; its weak quality made her feel unsafe. Nor for the one who spoke in short, chopped, angry sentences. "Voice is a pheromone to me," said Ms. Morris, a McLean, Virginia-based interior designer. "I think it's one of the senses."

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most high-profile technology developments in recent history. It would appear that there is no end to what AI can do. Fom driverless cars, dictation tools, translator apps, predictive analytics and application tracking, as well as retail tools such as smart shelves and carts to apps that help people with disabilities, AI can be a powerful component of wonderful tech products and services. But it can also be used for nefarious purposes, and ethical considerations around the use of AI are in their infancy. In their book, Tools and Weapons, the authors talk about the need for ethics, and with a good reason.

"This crash would not have occurred if Vasquez would have been monitoring the vehicle and roadway conditions and was not distracted," the Tempe, Ariz., police report said. The police report said Ms. Vasquez could face vehicular manslaughter charges. Tempe police have referred the case to the Yavapai County attorney's office, where a spokeswoman said the matter is under review. Uber said in a statement it has a "a strict policy prohibiting mobile device usage for anyone operating our self-driving vehicles." Ms. Vasquez, who no longer works for Uber, couldn't be reached for comment.

The "safety" driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber that hit and killed a pedestrian was streaming the television show The Voice on her phone at the time of the crash, police have said. The collision that killed Elaine Herzberg, 49, who was crossing the road at night in Tempe, Arizona, was "entirely avoidable", a police report said, if Rafaela Vasquez had been paying attention. Instead she repeatedly looked down at her phone, glancing up just a half second before the car hit Herzberg. Police said she could faces charges of vehicle manslaughter, but it would be for prosecutors to decide. The Uber car was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash, but Uber, like other self-driving car developers, requires a back-up driver in the car to intervene when the autonomous system fails or a tricky driving situation occurs.

When Gang Xu, a 46-year-old Beijing resident, needs to communicate with his Canadian tenant about rent payments or electricity bills, he opens an app called iFlytek Input in his smartphone and taps an icon that looks like a microphone, and then begins talking. The software turns his Chinese verbal messages into English text messages, and sends them to the Canadian tenant. In China, over 500 million people use iFlytek Input to overcome obstacles in communication such as the one Xu faces. Some also use it to send text messages through voice commands while driving, or to communicate with a speaker of another Chinese dialect. The app was developed by iFlytek, a Chinese AI company that applies deep learning in a range of fields such as speech recognition, natural-language processing, machine translation, and data mining (see "50 Smartest Companies 2017").