Venturing into the uncharted territories of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this exposé unveils the silent yet pervasive evolution of voice profiling in our daily interactions. As AI meticulously analyses and mimics our vocal nuances, it not only enhances customer service but stealthily invades our privacy, potentially manipulating our choices and spreading indomitable fake news. Dive into a world where your voice is no longer solely yours, and explore the ethical dilemma that businesses and technologists are navigating in this audibly intelligent era. The article was first published on FirstRand Perspectives.
Yes, they really are listening to us
By Athalie Russell Besseling
Amidst all the revolutions sweeping the world, from economic to political, the omnipresent Fourth Industrial Revolution keeps powering ahead with no sign of reaching a peak or slowing down. One aspect that receives surprisingly little media coverage and rarely enters discussion is the radical development of voice profiling.
According to Professor Joseph Turow of the University of Pennsylvania (ref *1), when you phone Shop X to enquire about a product, an Artificial Intelligence company is probably listening on behalf of Shop X. It is standard practice now. The AI will immediately identify your personality, for instance, âchatty and outgoingâ, and will match you to the consultant with the best sales record for your personality type. That consultant is the employee most likely to click with you and thus to âup-sellâ you to a more expensive purchase. The Professor stresses that âthis kind of voice-activated marketing is happening constantlyâ.
Think of all the times youâve heard the soft (always female, but thatâs a discussion for another day) voice that says, âThis conversation may be recorded for training and quality assurance purposesâ or something similar. Companies may be monitoring their people, but they are monitoring and recording you and me, too⊠they donât ask for permission; they just do it. Weâre not given a âdo not record this conversationâ option, are we? Another stealthy method of tracking us is via smart speakers, which are often literally given away as freebies to us when we purchase another tech; the internet retail giants seem to give them away most often. These speakers are thrown into super desirable deals, and if youâve already got a house full of these cute ân cunning listening devices, you can always pass any surplus speakers to friends or family. What lovely gifts they are, after all; who would think they are surveillance equipment too?
The reason behind being flooded with smart speakers, though, is fascinating. The giant tech firms are working on the premise that weâll all soon be searching via voice rather than typing, which is why they ensure their speakers listen to us. The built-in algorithms that analyse our voices develop a deep understanding of our speech patterns, revealing the nuances of our personalities in a way no marketers have been able to capture before. With this knowledge, retailers know how to push the right buttons with us and will be the first to secure our business.
In new cars, by the way, the vehicles are even learning to lip-read everything we say. Wait⊠thatâs my voice!
In another thrilling but alarming development, AI can now clone our voices. The more data voice cloning tools provide through recording and listening to us, the more uncannily perfect the results are. Do you remember when you could tell that a voice was not proper human speech simply because some intonations were wrong? Now, it might take the ear of a Mozart to tell the difference. Or no one will know at all. Google Assistant has become so realistic that itâs nigh impossible to tell what is human and what is AI.
Youâve probably experimented with voice technology, for instance, by changing the voice of your GPS, which is an amusing little tweak. This experimental use of celebrity voices is something of a failure, though. Celebrities don’t necessarily work for the task of giving directions. Billy Connolly, one would think, would be the winner, funny man that he is. However, using Billy to advise where to turn or change lanes is a strangely depressing experience. His comedy, delivered in his heavy Scottish accent, is funny. But his driving instructions are simply, well, deadly dull. Ripe for abuse
One can figure out at once how fake news and false information are likely to be disseminated with cloned voices that sound like people we respect. As the adage goes, âIf it can be done, it will be doneâ
Imagine how shaken we would be if David Attenboroughâs velvet voice, one of the most famous on the planet, were to tell us that climate change is a gigantic hoax, and everything is okay; plastic is not a problem, and thereâs no fear of mass extinction. Would that not be uplifting news? Who would doubt Sir David?
Once this fake news was disseminated, it would likely go on forever. No matter how many denials were issued by the BBC, the falsehoods would spread because, as we all know, fake news never dies; it just reappears on social media.
So, how else are our voices being captured and analysed? Through almost every aspect of the technology, weâre so wholeheartedly embracing. Think of all the must-have devices that respond to our voices. Our phones, of course. The intelligent screen that comes with every new car. And of course, the ubiquitous call centre, now known to be recording us for much more than âqualityâ purposes.
Artificially intelligent voice analysis gives marketers and advertisers an edge theyâve never had, an ability to read customers and obtain insights that were previously not âcapture-ableâ.
The businesses we interact with may eventually know us and understand our likes and dislikes better than our closest friends and family do. Through this knowledge, they will have more power to influence us than ever before. Is the actual cost of this not just our data but our privacy and freedom of choice?
Does it even really matter? Will AI simply improve our shopping experiences? Or are the secret spies of dodgy governments using it to stalk citizens? You decide.
Last thought
After a visit to the dentist yesterday, where a discussion about the problem of âgrinding or clenchingâ oneâs teeth ensued, this writer was astonished to find a news item in this morning’s email. The subject: âTeeth grinding or clenchingâ. The only listener who could have picked up on the subject and spammed me (apart from the dentist) wasâŠmy cell phone.
REFERENCES:
1. Professor Joseph Turow, Robert Lewis Shayon Professor of Media Systems & Industries, University of Pennsylvania, https://theconversation.com/shhhh-theyre-listening-inside-the-coming-voice-profiling-revolution-158921
2. Owen Williams author https://onezero.medium.com/amazon-and-google-are-practically-giving-away-smart-speakersheres-why-56f0e50bd95c
3. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/05/06/artificial-intelligence-can-now-copy-your-voice-what-does-thatmean-for-humans/?sh=444581ac72a2
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