What is most unique about humans is the distinct voice they produce when speaking, a voice from deep within their bodies that no one else can copy. To illustrate, as Cavarero states, “The vibration of a throat of flesh that repeats words with an unrepeatable voice” (522 SSR). It must take a professional actor with great skill to even come close to replicating a voice, although, a new company called Lyrebird has come out with a text to voice generator that is able to copy anyone’s voice and have it say whatever they type in. This raises many red flags and skeptics such as Tim Mark from NPR provides quotes from others who question the safety of this technology, “I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that it is a potential threat to democracy” (Henry Farid, Chair of computer science at Dartmouth College). The lyrebird team defends their technology through their catalyst to creating the technology, which is a solution to those who have lost their voices to disease. Specifically, Lyrebird has a partnership with the ALS Association, “Project Revoice”, and their goal is to help people with ALS keep their voices and improve their methods of communication. Ethically, Lyrebird also acknowledges the dangers that comes with their technology and states how they will attempt to avoid the misuse of it through global awareness and the customer’s voice cannot be released without consent. Personally, I do not see any reason for this technology to be open to the public, it would be a matter of time before someone figures out how to hack the system for their own benefits. Evidently, I believe Lyrebird should be a private company and only be in partnership with companies such as the ALS Association. The less people this technology is available to, the less chances they are of it going to the wrong hands.
