Tech

Amazon shows off Alexa feature that mimics the voices of your dead relatives

Published

4 days ago

June 23, 2022

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Amazon has revealed an experimental Alexa feature that allows the AI assistant to mimic the voices of users’ dead relatives.

The company demoed the feature at its annual MARS conference, showing a video in which a child asks Alexa to read a bedtime story in the voice of his dead grandmother.

“As you saw in this experience, instead of Alexa’s voice reading the book, it’s the kid’s grandma’s voice,” said Rohit Prasad, Amazon’s head scientist for Alexa AI. Prasad introduced the clip by saying that adding “human attributes” to AI systems was increasingly important “in these times of the ongoing pandemic, when so many of us have lost someone we love.”

“While AI can’t eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last,” said Prasad. You can watch the demo itself below:

Amazon has given no indication whether this feature will ever be made public, but says its systems can learn to imitate someone’s voice from just a single minute of recorded audio. In an age of abundant videos and voice notes, this means it’s well within the average consumer’s reach to clone the voices of loved ones — or anyone else they like.

Although this specific application is already controversial, with users on social media calling the feature “creepy” and a “monstrosity,” such AI voice mimicry has become increasingly common in recent years. These imitations are often known as “audio deepfakes” and are already regularly used in industries like podcasting, film and TV, and video games.

Many audio recording suites, for example, offer users the option to clone individual voices from their recordings. That way, if a podcast host flubs her or his line, for example, a sound engineer can edit what they’ve said simply by typing in a new script. Replicating lines of seamless speech requires a lot of work, but very small edits can be made with a few clicks.

The same technology has been used in film, too. Last year, it was revealed that a documentary about the life of chef Anthony Bourdain, who died in 2018, used AI to clone his voice in order to read quotes from emails he sent. Many fans were disgusted by the application of the technology, calling it “ghoulish” and “deceptive.” Others defended the use of the technology as similar to other reconstructions used in documentaries.

Amazon’s Prasad said the feature could enable customers to have “lasting personal relationships” with the deceased, and it’s certainly true that many people around the world are already using AI for this purpose. People have already created chatbots that imitate dead loved ones, for example, training AI based on stored conversations. Adding accurate voices to these systems — or even video avatars — is entirely possible using today’s AI technology, and is likely to become more widespread.

However, whether or not customers will want their dead loved ones to become digital AI puppets is another matter entirely.

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Tech

LG buys its way into the EV charging business

Published

52 mins ago

June 27, 2022

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LG is jumping into the EV charging business with the acquisition of a South Korean EV battery charger developer called AppleMango, it announced. The move will allow it to create “fully-featured” charging stations with a user-friendly interface and real-time control and management, it said. In particular, it will be able to leverage its “sturdy, dust- and water-proof” outdoor digital display tech.

LG is well-established in electric mobility, developing batteries, screens and sensors for electric cars. It recently joined forces with Magna International to develop e-motors, inverters and onboard chargers for automakers. The acquisition will expand that, allowing it to marry the new charger capabilities with its current in-house EV charging management systems. It’ll also allow LG to “create synergy” with its current EV battery business and products like energy storage and energy management systems.

AppleMango was established three years ago in 2019 and has developed proprietary tech like a slim and fast EV charger. LG will also work with partners GS Energy, which operates EV charging stations and IT provider GS Neotek to develop the necessary infrastructure. LG took a 60 percent stake in AppleMango, GS Energy a 34 percent stake and GS Neotek a 6 percent share, according to TechCrunch.

LG plans to install an EV charger production line at LG Digital Park in South Korea by the end of 2022. The goal is to supply a variety of customers with custom EV charging solutions, including private residences, shopping malls, hotels and public buildings.

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Tech

Apple’s entry-level MacBook Pro M2 has slower SSD speeds than its M1 counterpart

Published

2 hours ago

June 27, 2022

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Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 base model appears to have slower SSD speeds than its M1 predecessor. MacRumors reports that YouTubers Max Tech and Created Tech have both tested the 256GB base M2 model and discovered the SSD’s read speeds are around 50 precent slower than the M1 MacBook Pro with 256GB of storage. Write speeds are reportedly around 30 percent slower.

Testing was completed using Blackmagic’s Disk Speed Test app, and Max Tech even disassembled the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro and found that Apple is only using a single NAND flash storage chip. The M1 MacBook Pro uses two 128GB NAND chips, and multiple chips can enable faster SSD speeds in parallel.

Other 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro models with larger SSD storage don’t appear to suffer from slower SSD speeds. Another YouTuber with a 512GB M2 model ran tests and found similar speeds to the M1 version, and most reviewers were seeded with fast 1TB models and didn’t find any speed issues.

If SSD speeds are an issue for you on the base 13-inch MacBook Pro, you’ll need to stump up an extra $200 for the faster 512GB model. But if you’re willing to do that, you might want to wait and see what’s inside the new MacBook Air. The base model will also be priced slightly less at $1,199, but if it has slower SSD speeds then there’s an identically-priced $1,499 512GB model that will presumably have the two NAND chips. Unlike the M2 MacBook Pro, the M2 MacBook Air also gets a big redesign — including new colors, a larger display, a 1080p webcam, and MagSafe charging.

We’ve reached out to Apple to comment on the SSD changes in the MacBook Pro, and we’ll update you accordingly if we ever hear back.

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Apple’s entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 may have slower SSD speeds than the M1 model

Published

3 hours ago

June 27, 2022

Urban Moolah

Apple’s 13-inch 256GB MacBook Pro M2 may have worse SSD performance than the equivalent M1 model, according to testing by YouTube sites Max Tech and Created Tech seen by MacRumors. The $1,300 base model showed around 50 percent slower read speeds (1,446 MB/s compared to 2,900 MB/s) with write speeds 30 percent lower.

Max Tech opened up the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 and found that it only had a single 256GB NAND flash storage chip instead of two 128GB chips like the previous M1 model. That would mean the drive can only use two lanes in parallel, so performance is restricted to the speed of a single lane.

The higher-end 512GB and 1TB models don’t appear to suffer from the issue, and many review units (like our own) shipped in a 1TB configuration. The slower disk speeds on the 256GB model could affect app loading times, file transfers and data fetching. Overall performance could also take a hit as the virtual memory (used when RAM is full) will be slower, and the base model only has 8GB of RAM.

It’s not clear why Apple changed the configuration on this model, though the global chip shortage may be a factor. In any case, it’s something to consider if you’re looking at buying the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2.

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