OpenAI just announced that it recently conducted a small-scale preview of a new tool called Voice Engine. This is a voice cloning technology that can mimic any speaker by analyzing a 15-second audio sample. The company says it generates “natural-sounding speech” with “emotive and realistic voices.” The technology is based on the company’s pre-existing text-to-speech API and it has been in the works since 2022. OpenAI has already been using a version of the toolset to power the preset voices available in the current text-to-speech API and the Read Aloud feature. There are a bunch of samples on the company’s official blog and they sound eerily close to the real thing. I encourage you to give them a listen and imagine the possibilities, both good and bad. OpenAI says they see this technology being useful for reading assistance, language translation and helping those who suffer from sudden or degenerative speech conditions. The company brought up a Brown University pilot program that helped a patient with speech impairment issues by creating a Voice Engine clone pulled from audio recorded for a school project. Despite the potential benefits, bad actors would certainly abuse this technology to engage in some serious deepfake tomfoolery, which is already a problem. With this in mind, Voice Engine isn’t quite ready for prime time, as there are serious privacy concerns that must be met before a full rollout. OpenAI acknowledges that this tech has “serious risks, which are... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2024-03-29 19:03:56 UTC ]
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Open letter rebukes LitProm decision to cancel award ceremony for Adania Shibli due to ‘war started by Hamas’Israel-Hamas war: latest news and live updatesSeveral prominent authors and publishers from around the world have accused the Frankfurt Book Fair of “shutting down” Palestinian voices,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-10-15 18:11:54 UTC ]
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Siri and Alexa were only the beginning. As voice recognition and speech synthesis technologies continue to mature, the days of typing on keyboards to interact with the digital world around us could be coming to an end — and sooner than many of us anticipated. Where... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-10-15 14:30:20 UTC ]
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The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association's fall conference in Denver was filled with high energy for its 400 total participants, as publishing industry veterans met up with the next generation of booksellers inside and outside the exhibit hall. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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As we move into the fall reading season, deeply imagined short stories and inventive linked essays are having a moment alongside novels. What’s thrilling about the books coming out from small presses is the breadth of range—there are intentional and accidental murders, family drama and... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-09-26 11:15:00 UTC ]
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Abrams has signed an exclusive multi-year agreement with RBmedia, giving the independent audio publisher rights to hundreds of Abrams' fiction and nonfiction titles. The first audiobooks under the deal will be published in spring 2024. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon’s master plan has been laid bare. By the year 2300, every single day on the calendar will be Amazon Prime Day. Every month will be Amazon Prime Month, it will always be the year of the Amazon, and our homes will be entirely built of smiling cardboard boxes. Amazon hasn’t officially... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-09-18 13:46:37 UTC ]
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Not all international audiobook markets are evolving at the same pace, according to speakers at the second online Frankfurt Rights Meeting. The post Frankfurt Rights Meeting 2: Developments in Audio appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-09-16 00:02:33 UTC ]
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A right-wing book publisher has a solution to Scholastic Book Fairs: their own. That, plus this week's book censorship news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-15 10:40:00 UTC ]
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Terrell Tannen recalls trying to adapt Jim Harrison’s novels for Hollywood—and making a friend in Harrison along the way. | Lit Hub Memoir “I can’t approve of this movie, and by all rights, I could hate it. But I am enthralled.” Annie Berke revisits The Notebook adaptation, (nearly) 20 years... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-09-15 10:30:28 UTC ]
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Among the week's headlines: a politically charged hearing on book bans in the U.S. Senate; Illinois libraries face another wave of bomb threats; an internal report reveals the strain library workers at the Oakland Public Library are feeling; and a brilliant essay explores how today's right wing... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In the initial round of oral arguments over whether to block Texas's controversial book rating law, federal judge Alan D. Albright primarily challenged the state's position, and said he would issue a ruling before the law's September 1 effective date. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The FT Business Book of the Year issues a 15-title longlist, with a six-title shortlist ahead and a winner to be named in December. The post London’s FT Business Book of the Year: A 15-Title Longlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-08-16 16:57:51 UTC ]
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When asked to narrate an audiobook of machine-generated verse, Mr. Herzog readily agreed. “I wasn’t the best choice,” he said. “I was the only choice.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-08-14 09:00:32 UTC ]
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The joint conference from NAIBA and SIBA leapt off the screen into the real world for the first time from August 7–10 in Arlington, Va., where 278 booksellers gathered to prepare for what will hopefully be a strong fall selling season. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Indigenous-Minority Poets from China: 15 Recordings for International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, by Ming Di Audio Poetry [email protected] Tue, 08/08/2023 - 14:48 Photo by Nicolas Winkler / Flickr To celebrate the International Day of... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-08-08 19:48:59 UTC ]
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What was meant to help create a worker-owned coop in Feminist Book Club has turned into a need to recuperate from a series of office break-ins. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-08 14:41:31 UTC ]
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Led by another good performance by its audiobooks division and "fantastic" results in the U.K., operating income rose 14% at Simon & Schuster in the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 over the comparable period last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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At a glance ProsResolutions up to 8K possible, direct extraction of MP3 filesConsNo downloading of videos behind paywallsOur VerdictThe Video and Audio Downloader Pro 2 is easy to use and useful, especially for users of public service media libraries. Watching videos offline has evolved... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-08-04 16:46:51 UTC ]
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Total Amazon sales rose 11% in the second quarter, with the company returning to profitability. Online sales lagged, increasing 4%. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Four of the 13 books that will compete for the prestigious literary award are debuts, in a longlist that the judges said was “defined by its freshness.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-08-01 13:21:55 UTC ]
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