Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company, is likely to unveil a new feature this week that allows users to select celebrity voices for its AI chatbot, according to a report by Reuters on Monday. Well-known actors, including Judi Dench, Kristen Bell, and John Cena, have reportedly signed on to lend their voices to the company’s digital assistant, which resembles OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Reportedly, the voice options, which also include Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key, will be offered alongside a variety of generic voices for Meta’s AI. The announcement is expected to take place during Meta’s annual Connect conference, starting Wednesday. This audio feature will be available across Meta’s apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in the U.S. and other English-speaking regions, adds the report.
The introduction of celebrity voices could align with Meta’s broader push to stay competitive in the fast-growing field of generative AI. Major tech rivals like OpenAI, supported by Microsoft, and Google, under Alphabet, have also been expanding their AI products. OpenAI rolled out a similar voice feature for its chatbot earlier this year, though it faced controversy when actor Scarlett Johansson accused the company of using a voice that closely mimicked hers without her consent.
Meta has been racing to enhance its AI offerings and deepen their integration into its apps, giving users new ways to interact with the technology. Last year, the company experimented with text-based AI “characters” modeled after celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Snoop Dogg, though these did not achieve widespread popularity.
Meta is also anticipated to introduce its first iteration of augmented-reality (AR) glasses at the event. The company is likely to detail future plans for other hardware, such as its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which last year became the first product to feature an audio-enabled version of Meta’s AI assistant.
In anticipation of the Connect conference, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared a promotional video on Instagram last week featuring John Cena. In the clip, Cena and others perform stunts while wearing Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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Published: 24 Sep 2024, 11:02 PM IST