CURRENT PROJECTS : Make Language| Make Language ( 2005 - ) |
| Who speaks through the machine? / Voices without mother tongues |
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There is an uncanny bias towards the replication of human features in artificial systems; machines are being made to look and sound more and more like we do, and to understand and respond to us on our terms. But who speaks through the machine? Today, synthetic speech has achieved such levels of 'naturalness' that it can be confused with the voice of a living human being. However, this naturalness is shallow; not even skin deep. Nonetheless, the Heathers, Ryans and Sarahs, the friendly agents without a mother tongue are here to stay. Maybe it is time to give these agents more than just a voice, maybe one should imagine other tasks than the flight scheduling, ticket reserving, stock quoting and fast food ordering they perform with infinite patience. "Make language" is a trilogy on synthetic speech consisting of: part I: synthetic bad accents part II: amy + klara and synthetic hissy fits part III: autowow |
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