During Adobe’s Sneak Peeks event last November, a new product was announced, named Voco. Said to be the ‘Photoshop of voice’ the program was demonstrated by an Adobe engineer and Jordan Peele, from comedic duo Key and Peele.
The engineer used a sample from Key’s voice and began manipulating it enthusiastically. What started off with Key saying ‘I kissed my dogs and my wife’ was changed several times. The various versions of Key’s words were met with laughter from the audience, but the final version; ‘I kissed Jordan three times’ did seem to make Peele somewhat uncomfortable.
The above situation seems innocent; some might even find it funny.
But will Voco bring us any good?
Voice manipulation is not a novelty, especially not when used to serve a comedic purpose. Among examples are the infamous videos of President Obama singing to pop songs during his speeches.
But what if our goal isn’t laughter and this tool falls in the wrong hands. What if Voco is used to make Donald Trump say he will fire missiles towards North Korea? In this day of age, where fake news is daily news and the POTUS thinks out loud 140 characters at a time, how will we tell what is real and what is not?
Technological disruptions are usually a driving force for progression and improvement, but the time has to be right for it. Governments and regulatory bodies across the world are still struggling to regulate past disruptive forces, such as Facebook and Uber. So how will this ‘Photoshop for voice’ be regulated?
Maybe 2017 isn’t the right time for Adobe Voco. Maybe the right time will never come. Maybe it is time to change our naïve view on disruptive technologies and ask ourselves if they are really making our world a better place.
References:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-15/tech-industry-disruption-ideas-that-shouldnt-see-light-of-day/8948220
https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/07/disruptive-innovation
by Nikki Sonneveld (382290)
Interesting post, i hadnt heard of vocal photoshop before. I’m curious as to what effect this will have in legal situations where the main evidence is an audio recording. Will be interesting to see if companies can develop affordable tools to test whether audio has been edited or not.