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AI-driven voice analysis set to be talk of future
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A FEW seconds after a visitor read a short text on the screen, everything about him ranging from height, body size, age and skeleton structure to general health and personality was displayed.
What does your voice say about you? To find the answer, curious visitors waited in a queue at an exhibition space at Summer Davos, also known as the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2018, in Tianjin.
Not all the predictions were accurate, but they showed a very young technology — voice analysis powered by AI — being developed by researchers from the Carnegie Mellon University.
“Voice is more unique than your fingerprint because your fingerprint doesn’t change, but voice tells about your current state,” said Rita Singh, associate research professor with the US university’s School of Computer Science.
Singh and her colleagues studied human faces and recorded voices corresponding to the faces in order to make the connections. They then make judgments based on a string of voice qualities.
Profiling humans using their voice has the potential to be used by law enforcement agencies or hospitals.
In 2014, the technology helped the United States Coastguard to successfully catch a criminal who made hoax calls.
“Anything that affects your body and mind internally will affect your voice,” Singh said. “Maybe someday we will be able to analyze a voice and say you have taken blood pressure medication, an antibiotic or something like that.”
Established by the World Economic Forum in 2007, the Summer Davos Forum is held annually in China, alternating between the two port cities of Tianjin and Dalian.
Themed “Shaping Innovative Societies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” the three-day event has drawn more than 2,000 politicians, businesspeople, scholars and media representatives to discuss issues that will shape the future, such as applications of advanced technologies ranging from AI and robots to the blockchain.
Thanks to advances in voice, facial and DNA-recognition technology, you won’t need your keys. Your wallet, ID card and passport will be a distant memory. This was what was discussed by researchers at Wednesday’s interactive panel salon “Biometric World.”
Rob Livingston, senior vice-president of Special Projects, Visa, described some prototypes that could change the way people make purchases in the future, including “blood flow”-based technologies, where you would swipe your wrist to be identified, rings that use near-field communication, and plastic cards with in-built fingerprint recognition.
While some people may think these changes seem vague, the WEF published a list on the top 10 emerging technologies of 2018, ranging from augmented reality and personalized medicine to implantable drug-making cells and lab-grown meat.
Selected by a panel of scientists and experts, they are likely to take effect in three to five years.
Skeptics worry that advanced technologies such as AI might pose privacy risks and robots may take jobs from humans.
Singh warned people should be more aware of what happens to their data when they talk to voice recognition services.
“They don’t know, so they let their voice be recorded. If somebody gets hold of the recording, they may attack the voice password enabled system. People should use it more judiciously.”
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