Lyrebird’s Technology

In artificial intelligence (AI) applications, Lyrebird, a Canadian voice AI company, has gone one step ahead of voice recognition i.e. voice replication. Yes, this group of motivated youngsters, inspired by an actual lyrebird’s ability to copy other sounds, has made it possible for AI to mimic just anyone’s voice by merely collecting and processing data on 2-3 hours, high quality voice recordings. This startup’s AI technology does not only clone your voice, but also uses the right intonations that make the speech sound natural and dynamic.

It may sound super cool, but the idea took off from the return of the rare disease called ALS (Motor Neuron Disease) when Pat Quinn, the founder of Ice Bucket Challenge, lost his speaking abilities in 2014. This is where Lyrebird’s technology came to rescue in association with ALS Association’s Project Revoice which has enabled Quinn to deliver his thoughts in his own voice. This is very different from the computerized voice that Stephen Hawking had been relying on for his communication.

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In a statement the company explains the logic behind the magic, “it analyses the recordings, comes up with the characteristics that make a voice unique and is able to generate phrases based on that." Well, it’s not limited to ALS patients. The company has opened a new door to voice overs in animation and branding. According to them, they are already making the user interfaces better for many companies by giving a desired voice to chatbots, audiobooks, personal assistants and so on.

They also offer you to place a customized request for cloning someone’s voice you many want to use, for instance, in listening to a story book in your favorite celebrity’s voice etc.

However, there are controversies going on about Lyrebird’s audio mimicry technology and ethics. For instance, the company released the fake news by exploiting the voice samples of President Donald Trump and Barack Obama. But, this was purely an intentional act for the sake of spreading awareness about the new tech. The ethical statement on the company’s website confronts all the questions about ethics violation and misuse of this technology.

This voice mimicking audio technology is another milestone achieved in the newly resumed journey of AI exploration. In ideal scenarios, this technology can reveal its true potential in health, entertainment, and services in general. The fun has just begin, it won’t take long for the people to make it a part of their daily lifestyles, for whatever purpose.