If you find yourself missing the sound of a dead relative's voice, a new feature being worked on for Amazon Alexa may be able to help.
There's a new feature in the works for Alexa devices that can read in the voice of a deceased loved one, just based on a short recording of their voice. So you could take, say, a voice mail from grandma, load it in through the Alexa app, and then later have Alexa read you a story...as grandma. Using a brief recording, Alexa's AI can simulate the sound and timbre of a voice for many tasks.
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At a presentation from the Amazon re:MARS 2022 event, head scientist for Alexa Rohit Prasad says, "While AI can't eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last."
The feature is still being developed, and there's no tilmeline for a public launch, but there are very mixed opinions on what this new technology could mean. While most acknowledge the ability of the technology to comfort a grieving friend or family member, many condemn this as unethical, dystopian, and downright creepy.
Anyone else feel like puts us one step closer to living an episode of Black Mirror?