This cutting-edge, emotional AI voice can flirt and say I love you – and sounds a little too real – Syfy

Just what you've always wanted: A computer that falls in love with you. As refinements in artificial intelligence continue to progress the technology upward and out of the uncanny valley, getting an AI to interact with humans in a way that feels, well, human has remained one of the elusive milestones in earning it widespread practical adoption.

That all (quite literally) sounds like it's changing, and after hearing the wispy, yearning voice that AI startup Sonantic has crafted from nothing but ones and zeroes, were not sure were ready. To commemorate Valentines Day, the company shared a lengthy audio clip that shows off the emotive power of its AI-enabled voice 'bot. While it's still just working off a pre-programmed script, lets just say the gap between human and AI expression is closing fast.

Check it out:

As Sonantics cooing AI shows, were not dealing with some 1980s-vintage sci-fi cyborg that pines for human company in a cold metallic voice. The fact that it sounds so real is what weirds us out the most, in fact: If this bot were dishing out such convincing TMI on the other end of a phone call, how would you even know you werent talking to a machine?

Maybe were just hung up on love in particular, because its just one of many human emotions Sonantics AI is designed to persuasively vocalize. Speaking with The Verge, company CEO Zeena Qureshi described its algorithm tech as Photoshop for voice, capable of emulating a range of feelings from anger and fear to happiness and exuberant joy.

Though other companies are pursuing their own versions of AI voices that mimic people, co-founder John Flynn told The Verge that Sonantics technology has achieved an extra measure of user-controlled customization that helps it stand out. [O]ur research goal was to see if we could model subtle emotions. Bigger emotions are a little easier to capture, he said. I think thats the main difference our ability to direct and control and edit and sculpt a performance.

The company reportedly took inspiration for its romantic robo-voice from Samantha, the Scarlett Johansson-portrayedAI assistant in Spike Jonzes Her that main character Theordore (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with and for now, entertainment and marketing remain the primary fields where the tech is likely to be used. Our clients are mostly AAA game studios, entertainment studios, and were branching out into other industries, Flynn said. We recently did a partnership with Mercedes [to customize its in-car digital assistant] earlier this year.

Hey, its tough to find true love in a world that moves as fast as ours. And just like Hers Theodore, there are probably real people out there whore ready to fall for an all-too-real-sounding robot. We just hope Sonantics next-level techthe first AI that can flirt, as the company puts it doesnt end up getting its own heart broken in the process.

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This cutting-edge, emotional AI voice can flirt and say I love you - and sounds a little too real - Syfy