Instagram Founders’ News App Now Uses Celebrities’ AI Voices To Read To You
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger—famed technology entrepreneurs known for co-founding Instagram—are the creators of Artifact, a rather new social media platform that displays the latest headlines.
Now, the app has announced it will be adding exclusive speech-to-text features that will make use of artificial intelligence (AI) to read out articles to users.
Impressively, one can choose from over 30 voices, including the default “John” voice, to some based on celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and Gwyneth Paltrow.
The update, which will be free for all iOS users, will play the readings at 1.5x speed, so users should be prepared for a fast-paced narration of the day’s breaking stories.
Today we're launching the ability to listen to articles on Artifact, powered by @Speechify_audio. Choose from 30+ voices including fun, celebrity voices like Snoop Dogg and Gwyneth Paltrow. Available now on iOS, and coming soon to Android. pic.twitter.com/KJIXsZNSCK
— ARTIFACT (@Artifact_News) July 27, 2023
Of course, Snoop Dogg won’t actually be reading the headlines to users on the application—it’s a copy of the rapper’s voice imagined by the AI program Speechify.
According to Gizmodo, having the West Coast personality spew articles was an “entertaining” experience, though it was noted that the voice didn’t seem accurate when it narrated times, dates, and words with multiple intonations.
In true AI fashion, it seems the machine-based speakers tended to take “unnaturally long pauses” when faced with punctuation, so it’s best not to expect anything that will sound completely human.
Convenience-wise, having a text-to-speech feature within the news application could be beneficial for those looking to catch up with the news while working out or commuting, as the articles can be played in the background while a user continues to browse stories.
[via Gizmodo and TechCrunch, cover image via Artifact]
