Creative or Dangerous? Exploring the pros and cons of fake audio

It was only a few years ago that anyone could tell when a voice was machine-generated. But things have changed rapidly during the past few years in speech science and AI. These days, it only takes 3 to 5 seconds of your voice to create a fake, and it can be used to trick a voice password system like those used in telephone banking in the UK. At the same time, speech technology is opening up new creative outlets like re-constructing a person's voice in Hollywood after death or due to illness. This talk examines the polarizing topic of fake speech and looks at ways that it is both creative and dangerous. After this talk, you will come away with a new sense of where the technology is currently, and where it is headed in the future.

Speaker

Dr Jennifer Williams is Assistant Professor at University of Southampton. She is Chair of Security and Privacy in Speech Communication, a special interest group for the International Speech Communication Association (ISCA SPSC-SIG). She is also PI for multiple speech technology projects on the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Hub, and also leads an international project looking at AI regulation in safety-critical systems for Responsible AI UK. She was recently appointed as affiliate member of the NIST standards committee developing international standards for synthetic speech and speaker recognition. 

This event is in-person only. Please register on Eventbrite.

This event is part of the King's Festival of Artificial Intelligence, running from Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 May 2024.

If you’re interested in this event, you may also want to join us for:

• AI. Art. You.
• Does it matter that intelligence has a history?
• Can, will and should machines be conscious?
• From welfare to tenant state? State-tech relations in the age of AI

Festival event times may be subject to change. Any changes will be communicated to registrants via Eventbrite emails.

Please note, King's events are free, which means we routinely overbook to allow for no-shows and avoid empty seats. Admission is on a first come, first served basis, so please arrive in good time to avoid disappointment. We will not be able to admit those without tickets or latecomers.