Terrifying New iPhone Feature Can Clone Your Voice
Recently, Apple announced its plans to roll out a new iPhone and iPad feature on devices that would let users clone their voices. The service is called Personal Voice and allows anyone to create a synthesized voice that sounds like them. All it takes is a user to read through text prompts for 15 minutes.
Apple’s Personal Voice
Apple’s app creates a sample of the user’s voice! It is now available on the public beta for iOS 17, which is the next software update for Apple, officially due in September. An Apple press release in May pointed out how Personal Voice would work and announced a new Live Speech function that allows users to type what they want the device to recreate out loud. The company has said this function was designed to support the millions of people who have lost their speech over time or are unable to speak.
The press release also stated that the users can create a Personal Voice by reading a randomized set of text prompts for 15 minutes on iPhone or iPad. This speech accessibility feature applies on-device machine learning and is meant to keep user information secure and private. It integrates seamlessly with Live Speech, which can use Personal Voice to connect with others.
People Can Store Their Voice
Apparently, Personal Voice will be a simple and secure way to create a voice that sounds like the user of the device and will be quite useful to people at risk of losing their speech. This could include people with a recent diagnosis of ALS or other conditions that affect their speaking ability. Apple CEO Tim Cook made a statement that people at Apple have always believed that the best technology is built for everyone.
Tim Cook shared that people at the company were excited to share new features that build on the long history of the company making technology accessible to everyone and giving them the power to communicate, create, and do what they love.
Split Reactions
Naturally, the internet had split reactions to the new Personal Voice features. Some responded to the news on Twitter, writing that the features feel creepy — while others were already into the idea and would even try out the feature, noting that it was pretty cool.
Someone else stated that the new app looked interesting and was a good accessibility tool, considering how it allowed people to store their voices. It will definitely be useful for people that are unable or have issues speaking.