by Kevin Coupe
There was nothing artificial this week about the indignation and alarm that arose after it was announced that Calm – a popular sleep and meditation app – now is offering a new bedtime story – read by an AI-created version of actor Jimmy Stewart.
Stewart – who was a major Hollywood star from 1940 to 1970, with credits that included “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Vertigo,” “Rear Window,” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” – died in 1997.
Engadget writes that Stewart “was known for his signature drawl and calming voice,” and that the company “trained its system with old recordings of the star and merged them with a voice actor’s rendition of the story.”
“Hello, I’m James Stewart, but you can call me Jimmy. Tonight I’m going to tell you a story,” the AI-generated Stewart begins. “It’s a heartwarming story of love, of loss, of hope and of joy, but most of all — it’s a wonderful sleep story.”
The story notes that “the project received the green light from both Stewart’s family and his estate. While this project was created with consent from the necessary parties, the growing use of AI to replicate voices of celebrities and other public figures has sparked ethical debates. There have been several instances of unauthorized use of likenesses or voices, including that of Drake, Tom Hanks and Gayle King.”
A few things here.
First, the key word is “authorized.” The Stewart family approved it, whatever their motivations. So there’s no ethical issue that I can see.
Second, I think there need to be strict legal guardrails about how people’s faces, bodies and voices are used by AI. With major consequences for anyone who violates those laws.
Third, I’m wondering if I should get AI to start doing my FaceTime videos, especially after I retire. Y’think?
And finally: I’ve listened to a bit of the AI-created Stewart rendition, and I don’t think it sounds anything like him. It sounds oddly flattened out, like a face that has had all the wrinkles removed via surgery. It is soothing, but without character. And I do a better Jimmy Stewart impression than the AI.
Which makes we wonder, why do you need AI? Why not get Rich Little?
(FYI, I checked, and Rich Little is still alive. He’s 85 and apparently in residence at the Tropicana in Vegas.)
One other point. I do think that businesses have to be concerned about the degree to which AI can be used by bad actors to create problems for them. Sure, AI has a lot of positive implications, but we all have to be on alert, sensitive to the difference between information and misinformation.
New world. And an Eye-Opener.
The post Friday Eye-Opener: The AI That Shot Liberty Valance appeared first on MNB.
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