Alright, this is absolutely terrifying.
According to The Verge, Amazon has unveiled a brand new, experimental Alexa.
And I’m guessing it’s like your normal Alexa, except for one key difference…
This one can mimic the voices of your dead relatives.
The company demoed the experimental Alexa at the MARS conference this year, where a video played of a child asking Alexa to read a bedtime story in the kid’s dead grandma’s voice.
Amazon head scientist for the Alexa AI, Rohit Prasad, weighed in on the new unveiling:
“As you saw in this experience, instead of Alexa’s voice reading the book, it’s the kid’s grandma’s voice.”
He said that this was a key feature, considering so many have lost loved ones due to the COVID pandemic.
He continued:
“While AI can’t eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last.”
Needless to say, folks couldn’t help but compare it to an episode of Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone.
GET RID OF IT…
Amazon has yet to decide if this feature will be public at some point, but noted that the systems can imitate someone’s voice after just one minute of an audio recording of their voice.
Maybe it’s just me, but something just doesn’t feel right about all this. Just the thought of hearing one of my dead relatives voices coming through an Alexa freaks me out.
I’ll have to take a hard no on this one, chief.
