A Soulless Soul

The classic test for detecting true intelligence in a computer, created by Alan Turing, lays out an experiment where a person interacts, in conversation, with both humans and AIs, and if they can’t tell the difference, the computer is recognised as demonstrating intelligence.

Superficially simple, almost childlike, the Turing Test hides within it the deeply philosophical notion that the mechanisms of an interaction are irrelevant, only the result. Intuitively people retort at it, stating that the automaton behind it might be nothing more than a very advanced statistical or rule based system, forgetting that the same argument could equally be applied for the most advanced pattern matching machines on this planet: homo sapiens.

One is left pondering about the essence of humanity. If we can be fully replicated, is that new intellectual being also us?

One connection to that essence is our voice. We might say things like someone needs to ‘find their voice’, or ‘inside voice’, or even ‘the voice of the people’, as if our voice actually manifests our true soul. So what are we to make of an automaton that replicates that voice? Does it too contain a fragment of our soul?

This Train Will Shortly Arrive

I remember when I first met Reidar Wasenius to talk about the service which would become Lexofon — the world’s first service for fully authorised voice clones of professional voice actors. For those who might not know, Reidar is famous in Finland for being the voice that announces train stations and for telling you a mobile phone number cannot be reached. Having created a long career in technology, and as a professional voice talent, he was smart enough to recognise and embrace the possibilities of effectively copying himself, saying that, if he doesn’t do it, others will. We discussed this new idea at length and the timing and sheer potential struck me — and I rarely get excited about new startups these days. I’m happy that Reidar ended up going with the big vision version of the idea, and he, with Pasi Ruohonen, have, in short time, collected up a heavyweight roster of voice talent, including Sami Kuronen, Nina Tapio and Jussi Heikelä. All well known TV and radio hosts, and actors in Finland.

You might imagine how, a few weeks ago, I was in awe to be in the same room with the ‘Camel Boots’ and the ‘Kaalimato’ voices. Though most of all, I was starstruck to hear Carla Rindell. She’s the voice behind the Helsinki metro station announcements, and one of the first voices I was exposed to when we moved to Finland. Back then I didn’t know what ‘Siilitie, Igelkottsvägen’ meant, but as a kid it indicated happy moments at grandmother’s.

If you’re from Finland, definitely check out the video posted by Sami Kuronen, to finally put faces to those oh-so-familiar voices.

Great Voices, Fair Play

At Kaiden we have been helping Lexofon in formulating a product strategy, as well as getting our hands a bit dirty in some of the technology. They are off to an immensely positive start, and have already been collecting orders for their unique service. While there are other sites selling AI voices, some even of celebrities, none are doing it an authorised manner with the real talent getting a (substantial) cut of the proceeds. Fundamentally in Lexofon’s case it’s not the technology which will make it succeed, it will be the immense talent on board, the go-to-market plan, and working with real customers. That’s something we fundamentally subscribe to as a company: the technology is there to serve a greater purpose. It is merely a means to an end. The real goal is to create wonderful services, customer joy, sustainable businesses, and to make the world a better place. If AI-Kristoffer doesn’t nod at that, you’ll know he’s not a duck.