Podcasts about open voice network

Senior Developer Evangelist, Roger Kibbe joins us on GenAI in the Enterprise. Roger is passionate about Generative AI and has spent a good portion of his career focused on the technology, from the retail space to a startup using Voice AI to now at Samsung. Currently, he's utilizing Conversational AI to enhance user experience with Samsung products from phones to washers and dryers. Zach and Roger dive further into the nuances of integrating GenAI for over 6 million different users. Like, Subscribe, and Follow: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAIUNkXmnAPgLWnqUDpUGAQ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keyhole-software Twitter: @KeyholeSoftware Find even more Keyhole content on our website (https://keyholesoftware.com/). About Roger: Utilizing his strategic and technological expertise, he focuses on harnessing the transformative power of AI to streamline and enhance our everyday experiences. He is an expert in conversational and generative AI, including extensive experience with voice assistants and voice technology. His professional acumen encompasses a comprehensive array of skills such as technology strategy, communication, developer advocacy, and deep familiarity with web and mobile technology ecosystems. Beyond his responsibilities as a Startup Founder and Advisor, he serves as an Ambassador for the Open Voice Network, championing the progression of conversational AI technology. As a respected thought leader in the tech industry, he has had the privilege to share my insights at distinguished conferences such as the Voice Summit, Project Voice, Samsung SDC, NRF, Dreamforce, and VMWorld.  Roger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rkibbe/ 

Artificial Intelligence has opened up incredible possibilities in our daily lives. It has significantly impacted how we learn, conduct business, and navigate our routines, profoundly altering our world in ways we once thought impossible. But as they say, "too much of a good thing is bad," and this sentiment holds even in the realm of AI. While AI has the potential to be a helpful ally, relying on it too much could bring unexpected challenges and drawbacks. AI works best when used wisely and responsibly. By incorporating ethics into its development and use, we can enjoy its capabilities for a better and more sustainable future. Join Matt DiFrancesco and Laura Miller, an Award-winning AI Ethicist, Digital Humanitarian, and founder and CEO of NextGen Ethics as they explore the future of AI and discuss the ethical aspects crucial to this transformative technology and how it impacts the automotive industry. They talk about: (04:47) The benefits of having human experts to oversee AI (06:11) How Laura got involved with ethical AI (09:33) The three ideas behind the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (10:11) The challenges of dealing with AI in the collision repair industry (16:14) A human ability that AI will never mimic (17:15) Why AI cannot replace humans as a superpower (26:06) The value of educating people about understanding AI (27:37) What the automotive industry needs to be aware of about the dangers of AI Connect with Laura Miller Website: https://www.nextgenethics.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmiller-ethicist/ Connect With Matt DiFrancesco: matt@highliftfin.com (814)201-5855 LinkedIn: Matt DiFrancesco LinkedIn: High Lift Financial Facebook: High Lift Financial  Instagram: @high_lift_financial Youtube: @highliftfinancial About Our Guest: As the CEO and founder of NextGen Ethics, Laura Miller strives to advance the development of ethical AI. She teaches philosophy at Webster University and serves as the Director of Ethics at Shadowing AI.  Miller has been recognized by NASA for her contributions to tech ethics, and she is a member of other tech advisory boards, such as the Open Voice Network, which is funded by the Linux Foundation.  Her humanitarian endeavors have also earned her a Knights of Columbus award, and The New York Times and Lens Magazine have published articles about her ethnographic studies.  She received her BA and MA in Philosophy from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where she focused on applied ethics. She speaks on ethical concerns related to AI both domestically and globally.

“If you were thinking more towards the sonic branding aspect of finding a specific sound or a musical tone that represents the company, the way that I like to approach it is, what don't you sound like? Because sometimes that's too obtuse of an idea to think about. But like, if you know of something that's your competition, maybe they have a sound and you go, I'm not this sound because I don't like this. I don't know. I just wanted to put that out there, that recognizing your competition, and also to Ahmed's point, asking your customers, what sounds do you portray? So again, I'm going into the more of the sonic branding element of it, but I just wanted to put that out there.” -- Jeanna Isham This episode's the second half of my discussion with panelists Ahmed Bouzi, Jeanna Isham, Audrey, Arbeeny, and Steve Keller in The Power of Sound Club on Clubhouse about the Power of Digital Audio, as we discuss what voice AI might mean for voiceover artists, where companies looking to take advantage of sonic branding might want to start, and how social media and marketing algorithms are making reaching out to customers both easier and more of a challenge than ever before.As always, if you have questions for my guest, you're welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes. If you have questions for me, visit www.audiobrandingpodcast.com where you'll find a lot of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available. And if you're getting some value from listening, feel free to spread that around and share it with a friend, along with leaving an honest review. Both those things really help – and I'd love to feature your review on future podcasts. You can leave one either in written or in voice format from the podcast's main page. I would so appreciate that. Your Brand is Your BrandThe second half starts off with a question from Xavier, a voiceover artist and actor who's looking to utilize his talent for AI and synthetic voices. We talk about the Open Voice Network and innovative voice-cloning companies like Respeecher, and our quartet of panelists offer their advice. "At the end of the day,” Steve says, “your brand is your brand. So any and all of these things that you're doing that become part of a resume could potentially make you bankable.” Audrey adds “the one thing that I would say that I'd be a little careful with is like, let's say you're associated with one brand and you're on camera for them. And then you're on all of their media, your their voice. That might limit you from being somebody else's voice because you're too associated, you know what I mean?” Knowing Your ToolsJeff takes the stage for the next question, as he's curious about where a company that hasn't invested in audio branding before might start. We talk about the different resources that are available, and which forms of sonic marketing are the best fit for particular industries. “My general guidance,” Ahmed explains, “is to educate yourself about the space, but always start with your customers and ask yourself the question, how do I use this tool? And that's why the education comes in, is you need to know what tools are out there. How do you use these various tools or one of these tools just to start?" How Are We Using Sound?Another observation comes from Cheryl, who notes how easy it is, in an online world driven by algorithms and metrics, for advertisers to alienate their customers with clumsy marketing. Ahmed agrees with her and shares his thoughts on the importance of diversifying ad campaigns to reach out to different categories of clients,

In this episode: Lauren Hawker Zafer is joined by Joti Balani Why this Episode?  Are you curious about the explosive chatbot trend and how it's transforming businesses worldwide? Join us in this episode as we talk to Joti, a leading expert in conversational AI. This is a must-listen episode for anyone looking to stay ahead of the game in the world of AI and discover the important learnings that conversational AI can bring to their business and operational processes. Who is Joti Balani? Joti Balani is an award-winning creative architect who designs and delivers complex enterprise, human and systemic transformations. As the Founder and Managing Director of Freshriver.ai she has created a multidimensional transformation framework which blends AI, Data Science, Engineering, Cybersecurity, and Social Sciences. She is the AI Impact lead at Innovation of Large Organizations (ILO), G100 US Country Chair for Robotics & Automation, Intrapreneurship Conclave Governance Council Member / Unfold India, as well as an AI Advisor to Web3 focused startups, Titlechain and Inpeak.xyz solving critical, global problems in business and society with courage, creativity, and technology. Joti leads Open Voice Network's (OVON) Industry Advisory Council to share her Conversational AI framework with the industry and is the co-founder of Women in Voice/WiV, New Jersey, US chapter.  REDEFINING AI is powered by The Squirro Academy - learn.squirro.com. Try our free courses on AI, ML, NLP and Cognitive Search at the Squirro Academy and find out more about Squirro here.

Spotlight Six is a snippet from our upcoming episode: Joti Balani - The Explosive Chatbot Trend. Listen to the full episode, as soon as it comes out by subscribing to Redefining AI. Who is Joti Balani?Joti Balani is an award-winning creative architect who designs and delivers complex enterprise, human and systemic transformations. As the Founder and Managing Director of Freshriver.ai she has created a multidimensional transformation framework which blends AI, Data Science, Engineering, Cybersecurity, and Social Sciences. She is the AI Impact lead at Innovation of Large Organizations (ILO), G100 US Country Chair for Robotics & Automation, Intrapreneurship Conclave Governance Council Member / Unfold India, as well as an AI Advisor to Web3 focused startups, Titlechain and Inpeak.xyz solving critical, global problems in business and society with courage, creativity, and technology. Joti leads Open Voice Network's (OVON) Industry Advisory Council to share her Conversational AI framework with the industry and is the co-founder of Women in Voice/WiV, New Jersey, US chapter.  Why this Episode?Are you curious about the explosive chatbot trend and how it's transforming businesses worldwide? Join us in this episode as we talk to Joti, a leading expert in conversational AI. This is a must-listen episode for anyone looking to stay ahead of the game in the world of AI and discover the important learnings that conversational AI can bring to their business and operational processes.

Emily Uematsu Banzhaf talks to Ben McCulloch about conversation design. Emily is a Content Designer at WillowTree, a conversation/VUI designer, she leads the ethical use taskforce at Open Voice Network, and she's also a professional violinist!We talked about personas, ethics and the sound of conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“When we are listening to an audio file created by AI, we try to find where the machine got it from, but when we are listening because we just want to listen, we don't really care.” -- Ron Jaworski   This episode's the second half of my interview with Trinity Audio CEO and ad tech veteran Ron Jaworski as we talk about the future of proprietary AI voices, Ron's vision for Trinity Audio, and some surprising statistics on just how effective sound can be when it comes to engagement. As always, if you have any questions for my guest, you're welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, just visit http://www.audiobrandingpodcast.com/ (www.audiobrandingpodcast.com) where you'll find all sorts of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter (on the http://www.audiobrandingpodcast.com/ (www.audiobrandingpodcast.com) webpage) will let you know when the new podcasts are available.   Building a Better AI The interview continues with a talk about such projects as the Open Voice Network, and their efforts to negotiate contracts that protect the intellectual property of voice artists whose voices become the template of future AI assistants. “We have enough examples of how we can go in the wrong direction,” Ron says, recalling the legal tangles that have often ensued, “that we can definitely use those examples to see how to build an AI assistant right this time.” He goes on to tell us about his driving vision for Trinity Audio: “we believe that basically, any type of textual content should have an audio version if it's relevant to be consumed in that manner." As he says, “we want to create the largest AI audio library in the world and deliver relevant content to listeners whenever they want to consume it.”   Mechanical Voices Ron tells us about a test his company performed to see how well people could distinguish between human and AI voices. There was one catch, however. “The one thing that none of them knew was that all of the voices were mechanical voices,” he says, including the voices that the subjects had taken for granted as being human. “The human ear is becoming more and more tolerant to mechanical voices on one hand,” Ron explains, “and the AI solution's becoming much, much better than it was, and just getting better and better.” We go on to talk about how having audio and voice options for textual content can make a dramatic difference when it comes to online engagement. “We have one publication,” he says, “that we compared the engagement of users, and saw that a hundred times more of its subscribers tend to choose the audio solution than the general population.”   Joining the Ride As we wrap up the interview, Ron tells us about the sense of excitement and optimism that surrounds the booming audio and voice industry. “It's a fruitful ground for innovation and for being creative,” he tells us. “The audio and voice group is getting bigger, and the fun part is that it feels like this group is moving forward together.” For anyone thinking about taking the plunge, he has this to say: “People that think about joining the voice and audio space, now it's a great time to join the ride.”   Episode Summary Negotiating and protecting voiceover rights when it comes to virtual assistants How the human ear distinguishes between human and artificial voices Engagement numbers when it comes to utilizing voice and audio interfaces The exciting future of voice, audio, and the virtual sound industry Connect with the Guest Website: https://www.trinityaudio.ai/ (https://www.trinityaudio.ai/) Connect with Ron Jaworski on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-jaworski-7a37112b/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-jaworski-7a37112b/) Follow Ron Jaworski on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaworskiRon/ (https://twitter.com/JaworskiRon/) Connect with the Audio Branding Podcast: Book your project with https://voiceoversandvocals.com/ (Voice Overs

This E2E podcast episode welcomes back Jon Stine, Director of the Open Voice Network to discuss why the time is now for retailers to begin seriously investing in digital platforms.

James Poulter and Vixen Labs along with the Open Voice Network and Veritone surveyed 6000 consumers in the U.S., UK, and Germany about their perception and use of voice assistants and smart speakers. We break down the findings and discuss the implications for the industry as a whole. Trends, data, industry news -- all the things you like.    Poulter co-founded Vixen Labs in 2018. He previously was head of emerging platforms and partnerships for LEGO Group where he did some voice AI work and early in his career was an associate director at Edelman. 

In this episode, Roger talks with entrepreneur Michael Novak. Michael and Roger discuss Michael's history with voice, his work with the Open Voice Network, voice and privacy, and  where and how Web3 and  the metaverse intersect with voice. As always Roger asks his guest to give his voice predictions at the end!Keeping in TouchMichael on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/iotmichaelnovakMichael on Twitter - @MisterNovaHost: Roger Kibbe(@rogerkibbe) is a senior developer evangelist for Samsungwww.linkedin.com/in/rkibbeEpisodesAll Bixby Developers Chat Episodes are available on your favorite podcast player and at:bixbydev.buzzsprout.comMore about BixbySamsung Bixby is a next-generation, AI platform that enables developers to build rich voice and conversational AI experiences for the Bixby Marketplace, and Bixby devices including phones, watches, televisions, smart appliances, and more.Bixby Developers Homepage - https://bixbydevelopers.com/Bixby Developers Github - https://github.com/bixbydevelopersBixby Developers YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/bixbydevelopersBixby Developers Twitter - twitter.com/BixbyDevelopersBixby Developers Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BixbyDevelopers/Support the show (https://www.bixbydevelopers.com)

Season 2 of Talking Shop is coming soon, but while we ready our research machine we thought we would dive back into our archive and pull out some insights from season 1 that you might have missed.   In episode 1 of Talking Shop Shorts episode we revisit our chat with Open Voice Network executive director Jon Stine and co-founders of Pragmatic Digital, Scot and Susan Westwater.   Want to hear the full episode and discover how voice technology can be used to create a better customer experience? Just click here.   Three steps to staying in the know: Hit like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts to make sure you're first to find out when Season 2 of Talking Shop drops. Sign up to our mailing list at vixenlabs.co to find out when our next research findings are available. Follow us on social media @Vixen_Labs on Twitter, Vixen Labs on LinkedIn and @vixen_labs on Instagram.

There is nothing more human than storytelling. In this bonus Voice & Ai episode, Anne is joined by award-winning voice actor Emily Lawrence, Co-Founder of The Professional Audiobook Narrators' Association. They discuss the financial vs. social implications of Ai voices, creating a community for audiobook narrators, and why human-ness is an essential part of storytelling… Transcript >> It's time to take your business to the next level, the BOSS level! These are the premiere Business Owner Strategies and Successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a BOSS, a VO BOSS! Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. Anne: Hey everyone. Welcome to the VO BOSS podcast for another episode of the AI and voice series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, and today I'm excited to bring special guest Emily Lawrence to the show. Emily is an award-winning actor and writer that's narrated more than 425 audiobooks for publishers such as McMillan, Harper Collins, Penguin, Random House, Simon and Schuster, and many more. She's incredibly proud to be the co-founder and chair of the newly formed Professional Audiobook Narrators Association, or PANA, as everybody has come to know it. Her greatest loves are storytelling and reading of course. So narrating audiobooks is a dream come true for her. And her other passions include traveling, LARPing, aerial surf, fostering kittens, and chocolate. So I have a lot to talk to you about because I love cats. We know that. I have three of them. And so I just love the fact that you foster kittens. Emily: I do. Anne: And thank you so much for joining me today. It's a pleasure to have you here. Emily: Well, thank you for having me. Anne: Yes. Emily: Happy to be here. Anne: So in addition to the kitties, um, I need to ask you for a more complete description. I have never heard of this, but that might not be a surprise. LARPing. Emily: A-ha. Anne: For those BOSSes in the audience that may not be familiar with that, what is that? Emily: Uh, so LARPing stands for live action role play, and it's the nerdiest thing you've never heard of. Anne: I kinda love that. Emily: Um, so basically it's like -- people tend to be more familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, so it's basically like that, which is a kind of like you're role-playing out a video game kind of, only in Dungeons and Dragons, you sit around a table, and you talk about everything you're doing and you like roll dice to simulate fighting and whatever. And in LARPing, you actually role-play everything. So it's like a bunch of nerds in a park with like foam weapons. Anne: I love it. Emily: Fighting each other. Anne: I love it. That's great. Well, look, hey, the nerdier, the better as far as I'm concerned. Emily: Yeah, no, I love it. Anne: That's fantastic. So again, it's great to get to know the you behind the association that has been newly formed. How old is PANA now? Emily: Uh, well we opened to members, I think it was October 21st or -- Anne: Wow. Emily: -- thereabouts. Anne: Fantastic. So tell me, you know, I'm very excited to hear about this because I think it's probably about time, right, in the audiobook world, that there is an association that is vested in the interests of the community. Talk to me about that. Emily: Yeah. Well, I mean, there have been other organizations such as the Audio Publishers Association, which really represents publishers. Anne: Right. Emily: But narrators and other people in the industry can be members. And then obviously there's SAG-AFTRA which represents narrators as a labor union, but SAG-AFTRA also represents everybody else. Anne: Sure. Emily: So there was no organization that really was dedicated to narrators specifically. And I think you're right. It was about time and long overdue. Anne: So, I know that there's a lot involved in creating an organization. Tell me a little bit about that story and how did that begin? I mean, what was -- were there issues that were coming up in the audiobook world that you were saying, you know what, we need an organization to really take care of our community? Emily: Yeah. There have been talks for many years of -- among narrators of feeling unrepresented in various places and in various ways. And then obviously with the rising danger, I guess, or whatever of AI, I certainly felt like, okay, somebody has to do something. And so earlier this year, there were a lot of conversations in Narrator, Facebook, and other groups just kind of like that made me feel like, okay, we need to organize. We need to come together. And so I did that. Anne: And have a voice. I love that. Well, hey, it's one thing to talk, right, to sit around in groups and talk. I have so much respect for the fact that you pulled something together. I mean, there's a lot of work involved in that. Emily: Yeah. It was definitely a lot of work. I am very grateful to have my co-founder Emily Ellet with me through the whole process. And so we kind of started talking like about what this would be and how the community needs it. And then we just kind of did it. Anne: Well, I -- Emily: Here we are. Anne: You know, I love it. I was looking at your website, which for those BOSSes out there that want to check them out, it is pronarrators.org. I love your statement on who we are. I just think that your mission statement is providing opportunities for raising awareness of the narrator within public consciousness. And you have so many wonderful things that represent that this organization is going to be doing for narrators. Tell me a little bit about the initiatives for those things. Emily: Sure. Well, we're certainly very ambitious. We have a lot of really big plans, mostly around three things really. One is education, education both of narrators in order to raise narration standards throughout the industry, but also education of the public, and education in the industry about narrator needs and the fact that we exist because -- Anne: Sure. Emily: -- a lot of people listen to audiobooks and don't give a second thought to the performer who's bringing that story to life for them. And that's obviously important to us that, especially when you're talking about having humans versus robot narrators, you know, for people to recognize that we're human to begin with is probably really important there. So education in general is a big focus for us. Uh, we also have a focus on advocacy, which is kind of our umbrella term for all of the things that we want to do to help our industry thrive with human narrators as part of the mix, and the changes that we would like to see in order to help make that happen. And then the last one would be just community, fostering a community. As I kind of pointed out before, there was no organization that really represented narrators specifically, and only -- and we have a really wonderful, giving community. I mean, honestly, the narrator community is some of the most wonderful, friendly, open, supportive people I've ever met. You know, for a bunch of people who are essentially competitors, we're all so supportive of each other. We all help each other out all the time. And it felt like it would be really wonderful to have an organization that sort of formally recognizes, celebrates, expands, and strengthens that. Anne: So what sort of -- do you have events planned for things that you've -- meetings coming up, events, community outreach, what sorts of things do you have planned for the future? Emily: So we've got lots of plans. Um, everything's just in the beginning stages. We're a member-driven organization. So we operate entirely on volunteer labor. And so our committees have only just started. I mean, they all had their first meeting last month. And so everything is in its infancy. We're just getting started, but we've got big plans for example, community events to get together both in person and online and sort of, you know, build friendships, but also network and things like that. We have plans for an award ceremony that is going to be community-driven and peer-reviewed. So kind of like the Audies, which is our current Oscars essentially meets like the SAG Award. So it will be like a peer-reviewed award show, but that has different sort of categories than typical award shows that really focus in on celebrating our community in a different way, which I think I'm really excited about. Anne: Plans on collaborating or is it a possibility to do any type of collaborative work with the union? Emily: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. We've reached out to both the APA and SAG-AFTRA announcing our existence -- Anne: Right. Emily: -- and saying that we would really like to work with them to further our mutual goals, and both of them have responded very positively -- Anne: Excellent. Emily: -- and very supportive. And so we really do look forward to working with existing organizations to move everyone forward. Anne: So in terms of membership, so if I wanted to be a member, are there requirements, are there -- do you vet your members? What's involved if I wanted to become a member? Emily: Sure. Anne: Because I personally don't do audiobooks and don't hold that against me. I -- just not in my genre, but I know so many people that are just so passionate about the craft of audiobooks and narrating. So if I wanted to be a member, could I, or what is the process? Emily: So members are -- you're eligible for membership if you have recorded at least one audiobook -- Anne: Okay. Emily: -- that is available on some sort of commercial platform. Anne: Okay. Emily: So it's a very low, you know, if you've narrated one book, you can join. There's dues that have to pay, but then you're a voting member. Anne: Okay, great. Emily: If you do not qualify for a membership, we also are creating sponsorship tiers. So we'll have sponsorship tiers -- Anne: Okay. Emily: -- for -- Anne: Nice. Emily: -- other people in the industry like directors, proofers, editors, et cetera. And those are not ready yet, but once they are, there'll be sort of different ways to support the industry and get benefits and like access to events and things like that for doing stuff. Anne: Got it. Are you an official nonprofit organization? Emily: Okay. So we are operating as a nonprofit. We cannot apply for our nonprofit status until we file our first tax return. Anne: Got it. Emily: So -- Anne: Got -- well, I know that it's an involved thing, which is one of the reasons why -- I've, I've served on the boards of many nonprofits. So I know how involved it can be, which is again, why I have a lot of respect for you taking the initiative to put this together for the community. There's so much work involved in nonprofit, and I know how important volunteers and volunteer efforts go. It's so hard when everybody is busy to take the time and be able to help out in an organization like this. And I really look forward to the success of PANA because I know a lot of organizations that start off with the best of hopes. And then it turns into something where it is an awful lot of work and maybe more work than people anticipate. And so I know how it can be hard to progress. Emily: Well, it's definitely more work than I anticipated. Anne: Yup. Emily: I'm committed. So I'm there. And I know my co-founder Emily Ellet is also very committed, and we have a wonderful board. We've put together a board of some of the most respected -- Anne: Oh yes. Emily: -- people in our industry, and they are all very committed also. Everyone has expressed a sort of surprised at how much work it really is. Anne: Right, yeah. Emily: But, um, you know, everybody has affirmed to me multiple times, as recently as yesterday, that like, you know, we're in this and we're going to make this work. Anne: Well, I think having a voice for the audiobook industry is so important, especially with things that develop within our own industry. I mean, not just in audiobooks, but in the voiceover industry as a whole, we are facing changes, and I've known this because I've done my AI and voice series for at least 30 episodes now. So there are things that are, you know, impending and coming into this industry that we as professionals need to understand, and I don't know, evolve or work with or not, or form an educated strategy in order to co-exist, let's say, with them. So I will talk about the AI elephant in the room, which is AI. And what are your thoughts? I know that it's, it's scary for a lot of us that this technology is coming. And so what is your position on behalf of PANA in regards to let's say the evolution of AI and AI narrators? Emily: Well, we are a pro-narrator organization, pro-human narrator. Anne: Sure. Emily: And so we are dedicated to supporting human narrators however we can. We have a lot of ideas about how to address this, but I think the board has expressed our first priority to be education, because I think that a lot of narrators don't really understand all of the possible risks right now. I think it's wonderful that you're doing this, you know, you're, series to educate people. Um, but I think that we have a task ahead of us just to make sure that people fully understand -- Anne: yeah. Emily: -- what everything is. Like -- Anne: Sure. Emily: -- for example, a lot of people don't understand the difference between creating an artificial voice, like a clone of someone, and machine learning, which I don't know if you've covered in your series, but that's a really big thing that people need to be aware of. Anne: Yeah. Emily: So we have a lot of ideas about how to address that first and foremost, but also I think, you know, a lot of people -- just today I was seeing on Facebook, people posting like, oh, I listened to this, and it's actually not that terrible and blah, blah, blah. And so I think that it's important that we stay ahead of the game. You know, we can't let the robots catch up to us. We have to stay better. But also I think that, I mean, for me personally, this is not like PANA's official position or anything, but me personally, I think that a lot of the conversation is revolving around like dollars and cents. You know, publishers and whoever are going to do what makes the most economic sense to them. And if it's cheaper, consumers will follow suit. And there's just, it's kind of all about money and jobs and the things that general AI conversations are about. Anne: Yeah. Emily: But I think that with our field, it's not only about our jobs, it's also about the art of storytelling. Anne: Sure. Emily: Something that -- Anne: Agreed. Emily: -- I mean verbal storytelling is as old as language. It's like, we've been doing it as humans for forever. And that's, I mean, to me, that's what's at stake here. Like, yes, I would like to have a job. I would like to be able to do what I love to do for the rest of my life. But I'm equally as worried about, you know, the power of literature and stories and what it means to have, you know, just from like a moral, ethical standpoint to have robots sharing the human experience that they literally can't understand because they're an algorithm. And so I think that that is something that needs to be more part of the conversation for everyone, because what we do is an art. Anne: Sure, absolutely. Emily: And even if a robot is possible, it can never actually express anything human. And I think that that's important to me. Anne: Right. I agree with you. And I think that the consuming public has a lot to say, obviously, right? We are a market-driven kind of industry. What the consumer wants, right, or is it marketable to consumers or is it not? I mean, do consumers want to be able to listen to an audiobook and have a human? Like, is it meaningful to have a human or maybe for certain types of audiobooks, does it matter if it's a human or not? There's so many questions about that. Is there any type of book that you feel might be okay with something that's not human? Emily: Um, no, personally I don't because -- Anne: Well, and that makes complete sense. Emily: I mean, sure. I mean, obviously I have a certain point of view, but I think, you know, a lot of people are saying, oh, well, it's more suited for non-fiction. I think that that's kind of insulting, like -- Anne: Yeah, yeah. Emily: -- yes non-fiction does not involve character voices and things like that. Anne: Right. Emily: So from that perspective, it's easier for a robot to do, but I don't know, I've narrated nonfiction too. It's every bit as human. I think that authors would generally be insulted to hear that like, nonfiction is less human than fiction. I mean, I think it's all part of the human experience. Anne: Sure. Emily: It's all part of something that human beings have spent hours or months or years putting together. And they deserve a human voice to express that. Anne: Well, and you're talking to, you know, my specialty corporate narration and e-learning, so I understand that completely. I mean, to me, I mean, I want there to be a human teacher behind the mic. Emily: Sure. Anne: I want there to be, you know, I'm a company, I want there to be a human that's expressing my mission statement or my objective. And again, it comes to people responding and saying, well, you know, it's what the market wants. Or I guess for me, if I'm just one little person, me, I'm not going to necessarily stop the progression of technology. And so in terms of how I need to, I guess, evolve or work with technology that's, that may be encroaching on, let's say genres that I, you know, specialize in, I have to try to think of it in terms of, okay. So are there certain types that might be okay? A lot of times, you know, it's like, why do consumers go to outlets like the -- Fiverr, right, to get their voiceover? Because they don't have a value necessarily, or they don't -- Emily: Sure. Anne: -- or they have a certain value associated with that job. So could this not be the future lower end of -- Emily: Yeah. Lower budget production -- Anne: -- consumer -- yeah, lower budget. Emily: I mean, look, there are already people who are driven by money, you know -- Anne: Yup, yup. Emily: -- want the cheapest product, and they're hiring brand new narrators on indie platforms -- Anne: Yup. Emily: -- for like a quarter of the standard rate -- Anne: Right. Emily: -- or less, you know? Like those people already exist. Will those people start doing robots instead? Anne: Yeah. Emily: Maybe. Anne: Yeah. Emily: You know, who can stop that? Anne: Yeah, exactly. Emily: But I think yes, that is a concern because the more artificially narrated audiobooks that are put in the market, the more consumers get used to it, the harder it is -- Anne: Yeah. Emily: -- to argue our position. Anne: Exactly. Yeah. Emily: It's all concerning. I do agree that there's a certain element that I don't know how much control we have, but I also think that there will always be an element of high budget productions -- Anne: Yes. Emily: -- that will always have a human narrator. Anne: Oh, I completely agree with you. I mean, I don't think that there's ever going to be -- and I'm a tech girl. I worked in technology for 20 years. I do believe that there's always, there's always going to be a place for the human still in voiceover. And I think that narrators that have been for years, you know, telling stories and audiobooks, I mean, that is a level of acting that cannot be reached right now by any type of AI voice. Emily: Oh no. Anne: And I don't know that the public wants -- Emily: No. Anne: -- to be, necessarily feel like they've been duped either. Emily: Sure. Anne: So if they're listening to an audiobook, and they think it might be a human, so I think it's all speculation right now trying to figure out how -- like how long will it take? How far will it go and how human will it sound? And I guess my argument has always been well, humans are developing it. So I think you will always have those people that want to take it to the point where, oh my gosh, is this a deepfake? They'll always try to get there. But I like to think that technology is good inherently, and that because humans are developing technology, it will develop to a point that will help humans and not necessarily take them down or, you know, erase an industry. So I do believe that there will always be a space for a human actor in voiceover. I just don't know how far the AI will go in five to ten years, let's say,. Emily: Sure. But I will say that -- okay. So the way that these algorithms work, right, is that they find the middle ground, right? So they'll always be passible. They'll never be award worthy. Right? They're never going to take acting risks. They're never going to be able to, I mean, unless they have an engineer sit there and like tweak them for every moment, at which case, like just have a voice actor do it. Anne: Well, yeah. Sometimes there is a lot of tweaking involved, that's for sure. Emily: Yeah. So it's like, they'll just, they'll never be able to cry. You know, they'll never really be able to make a listener cry or feel that connected because they're not connected. You know, they're an algorithm. So they'll make the baseline choice, the easy, safe choice, because that's, you know, when you're talking about machine learning or it's studying thousands and thousands and thousands of performances, no two narrators are the same. We wouldn't make the same choices on the same book. So they're going to pick the baseline, which I think means that it will never be as good, no matter what, inherently it'll never be as good as the best narrators. So that's why we need to make all narrators, or at least narrators who want to make a living doing this, the best that they can be, because I don't think machines can ever really, truly catch up with anything that is off the cusp and beautiful and you know, like human, and they'll never be that. Anne: What if -- now here's my what if, because I do know of technology called speech-to speech where it can mimic. So what about an actor who, you know, has great acting skills, and they can act a baseline model, right? And then other voices can be applied on top of that. I mean, it's scary. I've heard it. Emily: Basically have a human narrate the book, but then put someone else's voice on their performance? Anne: Yeah, that is a mimic. So that would make it sound pretty much human, but with somebody else's voice or maybe with a different language. Emily: Well, I mean, if you're doing that, at least that actor is getting paid to do it -- Anne: Right. Emily: -- because they'd have to custom record that book. Anne: Exactly. Emily: Um, so that's, uh, a less scary proposition to me. Anne: Yeah, yeah. Emily: But um, yeah, I mean, I guess that's a possibility. I think the -- what we're more concerned about or most concerned about anyway, is machine learning, which will completely replace humans entirely. So like right now, most of the AI voices are licensed, where it's basically like they have somebody sit in a studio for a few days, and then from there they extrapolate whatever texts they want to be able to put on that person's habits. But machine learning would be like, they can listen to the thousand most popular in audiobooks and narrators of all time and sort of create an algorithm based out of that. Anne: Yes. Emily: And they'll never have to license. They'll never have to pay a single human for that. I think that's the biggest fear is completely taking us out of the equation. I think when it comes to licensing your voice or what you just mentioned, where it's like you record the book and then they put some celebrity's voice on it or something, I mean, personally, I am against those things. But I can see why some people might feel like there's more wiggle room in those. Again, that is not my personal opinion. I want to stop all of this, nip this on the bud. But if we're at a point where it's like, that's all that's left to us, at least there are still humans involved. Anne: Yeah. Well, and I think, again, if we're thinking about how we can evolve with it, if, if that becomes part of it, and I do know that that technology exists. I don't know at this point -- you've got people, you've got other companies that are not voiceover that are creating this technology. So how can we work with those companies or do we choose not to work with those companies right, in order to -- Emily: Sure. Anne: -- stay ahead, right? Is that a possibility? Emily: Um, okay. My personal feeling is I don't support anyone doing that because, and I have more to say, but like, because I feel like that's just kind of giving in. It's, you know, you get a sum of money, which is enough for a few years, and you're basically giving up your whole career in trade, and the careers of all of your colleagues, because how many of those, how many people's voices are they really going to need to license? So ultimately, and I understand that everyone's situation is different and, you know, I shouldn't judge, but ultimately it's a very self-serving decision to do that. And so I personally, and this is my personal opinion, don't feel like I can support those things. However, if someone's going to do it, I think there's a lot of important ways to protect yourself and to protect others in the industry. So I know that our union is working on licensing agreements that would be union. As far as I know, every one of these that I've heard of or seen advertisements for or whatever is non-union. And there's a reason for that. It's because they're taking advantage of people who are vulnerable. Anne: Sure. Emily: And they're taking advantage of people who need the money and who think, oh my gosh, a year's salary for a few days in the booth? Of course, I'm going to do that. Not realizing or not thinking through the consequences. You know, there's a reason that they don't want these contracts to be union because the union would want to, for example, limit how many times that person's voice can be used. Can they make a hundred audiobooks from that person's voice versus a thousand or a million from the same person's voice? You know, they're going to try to put limits on it to make it more equitable and spread it out. And these companies don't want to do that. There was no advantage to them for doing that. And then there's other things like, well, I've talked a bunch about machine learning, which if people don't know, I really highly recommend looking into it. But if you license your voice, and there's no provision in your contract which says that they can't use that for machine learning, they can take that voice and not only use it for clone or whatever, but they can use it to create a totally synthetic voice that they'll never have to pay anyone a dime for. You know, there's a lot of risks, and that's part of why we want to do an educational series is if you're going to do this, which I personally strongly recommend and hope that you won't, but if you will, please at least be smart about it. You know, there are companies involved like, you know, Google and whatever that have really deep pockets, and they can offer the kind of money that a lot of people would have a really hard time turning down. But you also have to remember that there's a lot more at stake here than your wallet or even your career. Um, so we just, if you're going to do it, you have to be smart about it and you have to read those contracts with a fine tooth comb. Anne: So I totally, totally understand all of that. Absolutely. What about the possibility of, as an organization, having a voice and going to these companies and saying -- I want to say it's like in the video gaming industry, when musicians would create music for video games, fighting for their creative licensing rights. What about that sort of thing? Like, and I understand, I mean, Google and you know that a lot of the big companies have a lot of voices already, not even voice actors, right? Just voices -- Emily: Right, yeah. Anne: -- that they're using to learn, right. They're using to put into machine learning and learn and test and create other voices. If as an organization, you could be a strong voice in saying, hey, you know what, anybody's voice that's used really you should be asking permission. There should be compensation. There should be -- Emily: Right. Anne: -- you know -- Emily: We should be getting royalties. Anne: Right, exactly. Emily: You know, like with any contract, you should have a limited period of time -- Anne: Exactly. Emily: -- where you can -- Anne: Exactly. Emily: You can't license in perpetuity, you should get six months or whatever, you know, like, I totally agree. That's part of why, if these contracts are going to happen, they should be union. Anne: Yeah. Emily: And that's why they don't -- they don't want to give us that, they don't. Um, they just want to give us a sum of money that is like an absolute fraction of what we would deserve for doing that kind of work. Anne: I have spoken with some companies who say that they are not those companies. You know, they say that they are for -- Emily: Well, of course they say -- Anne: Well, okay. But that's the thing though, is that, do you assume that all companies are not ethical? You know what I mean, in this game? Emily: I think honestly, I think any company doing this nonunion and not offering the protections and the compensation that any actor doing this deserves it, I don't think that's ethical. This is my personal opinion. I'm not speaking for PANA. Anne: Oh, no, no. Emily: I don't think it's ethical to offer a desperate actor a year salary and have their voice in perpetuity to use -- Anne: I agree. Emily: -- for whatever you want. You know? Anne: I agree with that. And I totally agree with that. And I think that that is absolutely where voice actors need to, you know, they need to be aware of these things that, you know, these companies that are for TTS. For me, that's a big red flag. And if you have a contract or you have a company that wants to pay you for, you know, 3000 lines of whatever, I absolutely believe that you should have a lawyer on that. Um, I say I would not take the job. However, if you go to these AI companies, I'm going to say independently and, you know, and try to work with them, or if there's an organization that can be on a board -- there is an organization right now that is working towards policies and legal contracts that will be in protection of the voice acting community. So I feel like there could be power in that as well. Emily: Sure. Anne: And especially from the audiobook narrators industry as well, because you guys are a -- you're a large community, and you have strong voices, and you work closely with the union. And I think that that is a wonderful thing. And I think that if you can get in on the ground floor of those usage policies, which everybody should have, right? And then, you know, ultimately, you know, fight the good fight hopefully so that the companies now understand, because I think in my research, I'm just going to say, there's a lot of AI companies out there that don't understand the voice acting industry. They don't understand like I actually had to say, no, there's usage. There's -- Emily: Right. Anne: -- you know, there's usage here for how long. And we have contracts that, you know, we can't use our voice for this company, because we're already committed to this company. Emily: Sure. Anne: And there's a lot of education, not just for us, but -- Emily: But for them. Anne: -- on their side as well. And I think that if you have a strong community of voices, that might be something to consider. Like you said, education, maybe education for AI companies as well. Emily: Sure. I -- Anne: Yeah. Emily: -- I would certainly be open to that. Anne: Yeah. Emily: And another one that we haven't mentioned, but that is definitely a concern, at least for me, would be having some sort of limitations on the content that they -- Anne: Yes, absolutely. Emily: -- could use voices for. Anne: Yup, yup. Emily: Like for example, you know, I'm, I'm Jewish. Anne: Yup. Emily: I would be horrified if my voice was used to narrate Nazi propaganda. Anne: Yup. Emily: You know, like that's just -- so I think any, any contract that is like in perpetuity with no limitations is unethical to me -- Anne: Yup. Emily: -- because that's just not how it should work. Anne: Oh yeah. Emily: Am I -- Anne: I agree. Emily: Am I open to working with AI companies to create a more equitable compensation system? Personally I think that that's SAG-AFTRA's job. If I ever hear of an AI company actually having union agreements with SAG-AFTRA, I would feel more kindly towards that AI company. I have yet to hear of that. I would potentially be open to that kind of effort, but honestly, I feel like that's putting the cart before the horse. I don't think we should give up the fight yet. I think we have enough good arguments and resources on our side to not necessarily have to get to that point yet. Anne: Okay. Well, I think that you've definitely got some strong arguments there, and I, I have also been in the forums and I hear what people say, and I understand. I myself have done so much research, probably a little bit more with the companies maybe than others, which is the only reason I bring up the point that there are companies who say that they are ethical and say that they will, you know, your license or your voice belongs to you. It's licensed to you. We will not use it in our machine learning, right? Only with your permission and only if you are compensated fairly, so. Emily: I mean, that's good. Good on those companies. Anne: Yeah. Well, I'm hoping that more companies will, with things, you know, with the unfortunate, but actually now fortunate episode that happened to -- maybe not fortunate. I don't know if I would call it that, but that happened with Bev Standing, right, with her suit against TikTok and the fact that it got settled, it does set a precedent. And so it's unfortunate sometimes that bad things have to happen in order for, right, resulting policies and standards and laws to come into play. You know, the whole thing with the Anthony Bourdain movie, right? Why resurrecting a voice without the permission? I think that there are bad things that happen. However, good things can come out of it afterwards in order to build laws. And I think that that's kind of where we might be in this crazy world of AI. And it seems like AI has just sprung up in the last couple of years like crazy. Emily: Sure. Anne: So I do believe after my research, for me, I think it comes to educating the companies, the AI companies about us and about what we need and about what our rights should be as actors. And I, I'm hoping that my involvement in this podcast is going to also have a voice that can help affect that. And so that they will see that we do need to license our voice. We do need to be fairly compensated. And, you know, I can only hope that my little part in it has something to do with maybe getting things the way that would be fair and equitable to us. Emily: Sure. I mean, I hope that, I hope that your efforts are successful. I do think that, I would like to think that these companies are just unaware or something. Anne: Yeah, yeah. Emily: And I'm sure some of them are, but I also think that some of them are very clever. Anne: Yeah, of course. Emily: And I know there are, for example, I can think of certain companies in the audiobook world who say, well, we won't -- they are clever in the way that they deceive people. You know, they'll say, well, we're not using our data to clone your voice, but they won't say that they're not using the data for machine learning or other things, you know? Like, and I think that, because I think that if we could get companies to do union contracts, that would certainly order it, you know, equivalent. That would certainly be a step forward. But I also think that educating voice actors to understand all of this stuff -- because it is complicated -- Anne: Sure. Emily: - and it's not necessarily natural to a lot of people. I think that's important too, because like right now there are companies where we're -- actors and publishers are literally giving data to and not really recognizing how it could be used. Anne: Agreed, agreed. Emily: And so that's a problem. Anne: I think we always have though, you know what I mean? I'm going to say long before this AI craziness, I think also, you know, there have been devices that have been listening to us and capturing our voices for a long time now. Emily: Sure. Anne: And so it's, I think it's good that we all are educated on it. And I just wanna give a shout-out to the organization, which I'm a part of, and anybody, if you're interested in joining them, it's called the Open Voice Network, which is based on creating standards for anything voice. And there are some companies who create AI voices that are in this organization, but it's all for the good of the voiceover world as well, to make sure that we are fairly compensated and hopefully, you know, we have a set of standards that can work for everyone. So that's openvoicenetwork.org. Maybe that's something that, you know, uh, BOSSes out there, you want to take a look at. I love, love, love what you're doing with PANA. I mean, thank you really. It's, I know how hard it is to bring an organization up and get these things going and moving and being productive. So congratulations to you guys. I think it's an amazing thing you're doing for the audiobook community, and I think it's wonderful what you're doing. Emily: Thank you. Anne: Yeah, yeah. Emily: Appreciate that. Anne: So tell us how people can find out more about your organization and you? Emily: Sure. Uh, pronarrators.org is our website. We are @pronarrators on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and I'm Emily Lawrence. And you can find me at emilylawrence.com. Anne: Fantastic. Thank you so much, Emily, for spending time with us today. BOSSes, go check out pronarrators.org. Thanks again so much for joining us. I'm going to give a great big shout-out to our sponsor ipDTL. You too can connect and network like a BOSS. Find out more ipdtl.com, and we'll see you guys next week. Thanks so much. Bye! Emily: Bye. >> Join us next week for another edition of VO BOSS with your host Anne Ganguzza. And take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at voboss.com and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies, and new ways to rock your business like a BOSS. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via ipDTL.

The synthetic voice conversation is here. Do you want a seat at the table? Anne is joined by special guest Jon Stine for a bonus Voice & Ai episode. They cover what the Open Voice Network (OVN) is, how to be a part of it, and the importance of asking questions. What are the regulations for synthetic voices, how can VO industry members get involved, and are we willing to create the standards before they're made for us…  

“As human beings, we like to praise others that we believe are doing a great job. The thing is to make the ask easy to answer. So if you say 'can you record a one-minute video,' they would do it – I'm sure they would all do it – but it would be heavier. The lighting has to be good, you cannot have a bad hair day, and so on, whereas in voice you just need to make sure that your voice is okay.” -- Dr. Ahmed Bouzid   In this episode, we continue my interview with Dr. Ahmed Bouzid, renowned speech technologist and Witlingo founder and CEO, as we talk about the Open Voice Network and the future of audio social media. As always, if you have any questions for my guest, you're welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, just visit https://audiobrandingpodcast.com (audiobrandingpodcast.com) where you'll find all sorts of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter (on the audiobrandingpodcast.com webpage) will let you know when the new podcasts are available.   Speaking Your Knowledge We begin the second half of the interview by talking about how Witlingo and internet audio can help democratize creativity, allowing people who might shy away from posting videos and pursuing more restrictive forms of audio expression to nonetheless find their voice in online audio communities. As Dr. Bouzid puts it, “there are lots and lots of people who have lots and lots of knowledge, and the best way for them to share that knowledge is just to speak it.” The Social Audio Thing Our discussion focuses on social audio apps as well at the nonprofit Open Voice Network, the ethics of voice AI and social audio, and the power of major companies like Twitter and Facebook to shape the industry. “This social audio thing, I don't think we understand it really that much right now. I think we have the basics of it, but I think where it's going to go and what it's going to be in a year or two, five years, I don't think we really know right now.” Finding Your Voice Online “I think there should be mechanisms,” Dr. Bouzid says as we talk about the future of social audio. “It cannot be left to these private companies to dictate things that have massive consequences.” He goes on to tell us about his work with Witlingo and the versatility it'll give users, allowing fans and creators to share content and feedback, and the interview wraps up on a lighter note as we discover a somewhat surprising hobby that we happen to have in common. Episode Summary Witlingo and the ease of social audio The ethics and dangers of voice AI The challenge of an open audio future How Witlingo can bring users together Connect with Dr. Ahmed Bouzid Witlingo: https://witlingo.com/ (https://witlingo.com/) The Fish & the Bird: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ahmedbouzid_voicefirst-sonic-sonicmarketing-activity-6818992542961438721-2Dvl (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ahmedbouzid_voicefirst-sonic-sonicmarketing-activity-6818992542961438721-2Dvl) Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/didou/ (https://twitter.com/didou/) Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmedbouzid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmedbouzid/) Connect with the Audio Branding Podcast Book your project with https://voiceoversandvocals.com/ (Voice Overs and Vocals) https://voiceoversandvocals.com/ (https://voiceoversandvocals.com) Tweet with me on https://twitter.com/JodiKrangle (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/JodiKrangle (https://twitter.com/JodiKrangle) Watch the Audio Branding Podcast on https://www.youtube.com/c/JodiKrangleVO (YouTube) - https://www.youtube.com/c/JodiKrangleVO (https://www.youtube.com/c/JodiKrangleVO) Connect with me on https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodikrangle/ (LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodikrangle/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodikrangle/) Leave the Audio Branding Podcast a written review at https://lovethepodcast.com/audiobranding...

“I would say that the core driver has always been trying to enable more folks to engage, more people to be able to express themselves. So when I go back and look at all the things in my life, that seems to be the theme." --  Dr. Ahmed Bouzid   This episode's guest is the founder and CEO of Witlingo, a McLean, Virginia-based company that builds tools for publishing sonic experiences, from Alexa Skills, Google Actions, and Bixby Capsules to Microcasts and social audio products and solutions. Before Witlingo, he was the Head of Product at Amazon Alexa and the Vice President of Product at Genesys. He holds twelve patents in Human Language Technology, is an Ambassador at The Open Voice Network, an Editor at The Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective (SERRC), and was recognized as a "Speech Luminary" by Speech Technology Magazine, as well as among the Top 11 Speech Technologists by Voicebot.ai. His name is Dr. Ahmed Bouzid, and if you have any interest in the future of voice and technology, this will be an enlightening discussion.  As always, if you have any questions for my guest, you're welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, just visit https://audiobrandingpodcast.com (audiobrandingpodcast.com) where you'll find all sorts of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter (on the audiobrandingpodcast.com webpage) will let you know when the new podcasts are available.   Better Than Computers Dr. Bouzid starts the interview by recalling his formative years in Casablanca, and his memories of waking up to the sounds of chickens on his family's villa. He goes on to tell us about his work as a software engineer and how computers still have a long way to go to catch up with human language skills.  “Language is a very fascinating problem to solve from the technological perspective,” he explains, “one of the hardest problems in artificial intelligence.” Teaching a Machine Manners We take a deeper look at the paradox of machine learning versus the human brain, how people have evolved around the use of language in a way that computers haven't. "Some people say that we are wired for language," he tells us, "that it's something that we are born with." Even something as seemingly simple as being polite can be almost impossible to program into a computer since it depends on so many cultural and social cues that we don't usually think about. The Fish and the Bird Next, we talk about Witlingo and the challenges facing voice-first systems like Alexa and Siri.  Dr. Bouzid explores one of those challenges with a story he calls the Fallacy of the Fish and the Bird that illustrates the temptation to judge a new product using the same metrics that we used for the older ones, even when they don't make sense. As he put it, “the metrics of the fish don't apply to the bird, and, also, there are a lot more fish than there are birds.” Thinking Like a Bot The first half of our interview focuses on the advantages and limitations of chatbots, the uncanny valley that an almost-human voice system can fall into, and his approach to making AI voices and voice-first interfaces more accessible. “I subscribe to the school of thought that says we should not try to have the bot emulate the human being,” Dr. Bouzid explains. “The conversation between a human being and a bot is different than a human being to a human being.” Episode Summary Dr. Bouzid's early childhood in Morocco Why humans are better at speech than computers The challenges of teaching an AI language Witlingo and the metrics of voice-first software How we talk to and interact with voice AI Connect with Dr. Ahmed Bouzid Witlingo: https://witlingo.com/ (https://witlingo.com/) The Fish & the Bird: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ahmedbouzid_voicefirst-sonic-sonicmarketing-activity-6818992542961438721-2Dvl...

Jon Stine is the Executive Director and founder of the Open Voice Network. Prior to founding OVN, Stine was global director of retail sales at Intel and a director of North American retail at Cisco. He has an MS in telecommunications from the University of Oregon. Today we talk about voice assistant interoperability, standards, and keeping AI systems open and consumer-friendly. 

This Week In Voice, Season 6 Episode 4, features guests Rana Gujral (CEO, Behavioral Signals), Jon Stine (Executive Director, Open Voice Network) and Thomas Lindgren (Executive Chairman, Wanderword). Stories include: 1) M&A Watch: LivePerson's Transformational Acquisitions (Dan Miller, Opus Research) 2) Healthcare's Use Of Voice Tech Seen As "Game Changer" For Diagnostics, Patient Experience (PYMNTS) 3) A Start-up Says Its Voice Recognition Tech Beats Google And Amazon At Reducing Racial Bias (CNBC) 4) Biggest Names In Voice Tech Coming To Okaloosa Island For Project Voice X (Northwest Florida Daily News) This Week In Voice, hosted by Bradley Metrock (CEO, Project Voice; General Partner, Project Voice Capital Partners) is part of the Project Voice Media Group.

Team from Voice Spark Live - Nick Sawka, Emily Banzhaf About Emily Emily is a conversation designer, voice designer, one of the hosts of Voice Spark Live, and a member of the Open Voice Network, working to develop standards and ethical guidelines for voice experiences. She was part of the winning team of the Digital Assistant Academy's Hackabot. Before transitioning to the voice field, Emily was a professional violinist, performing all over the world with various ensembles. About Nick Nicholas was recently brought on at Wanderword as their Chief Evangelist. Nick will represent Wanderword in the US in sales, networking, gathering product testers as well as improving the use/onboarding of Fabula, Poptale and entertainment production. Nick found his passion for Alexa back in 2015 when she was first released and was part of the initial Beta program for the device. In 2017 he made the jump to development and has been involved with creating over 400 Alexa Skills. Further, Nicholas has experience with working on and creating Google Actions. In addition to his love for Voice First tech he is an experienced Chief Of Operations with a demonstrated history of working in the military industry, with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from University of Phoenix.

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The numbers have spoken — 91% of voice consumers are using voice search via a website, mobile app, or smart speaker.  In this episode, James is joined by Jon Stine, executive director at the Open Voice Network, and Susan and Scot Westwater, co-founders at Pragmatic Digital, to discuss this and some other key findings in the Voice Consumer Index 2021, recently compiled by Vixen Labs in partnership with the Open Voice Network. The report digs into how consumers use voice to search for brands and even make purchases across three regions — the UK, US and Germany.  Alongside an exclusive analysis of the report straight from white paper co-authors Susan and Scot, this episode focuses not only on unpacking the data, but also providing insight on how to use it to create a better experience for the consumer.  For a more comprehensive view on voice user trends in the UK, US and Germany, download our full VCI 2021 report.  And don't forget to follow us on social media for unlimited tips and insights on voice:  @Vixen_Labs on Twitter, Vixen Labs on LinkedIn,  and @vixen_labs on Instagram.

In this episode, Roger talks with Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald. Maarten is a voice evangelist; He works with the Dutch Voice coalition to bring voice to the Dutch people, founded Project Zilver which brings voice to elder adults, actively works on the Open Voice Network, and is an all-around icon in the voice community.Roger and Maarten discussMaarten's backgroundVoice Evangelism and what it isMaarten's first experience with voiceAR and voiceThe Dutch Voice CoalitionVoice for the people and why it's importantWhat is "Google Dutch" and the dangers of voice homogenyOpenness and voice -why voice should be more like the webProject Zilver and bringing voice to older adultsWhy the voice opportunity for older adults is so hugeMaarten's BookOpen Voice Network and what Maarten does for itMaarten's Podcast and NewsletterIn-Person Events and CovidVoice LunchMaarten's hidden gemMaarten's shocking predictionKeeping in touchLinks from the ShowDutch Voice Coalition - www.spraakcoalitie.nlProject Zilver - www.projectzilver.comOpen Voice Network - openvoicenetwork.orgOpen Voice Newsletter - www.getrevue.co/profile/openvoiceOpen Voice Events - www.openvoice.nlMaarten's Book - www.managementboek.nl/boek/9789047012900/voice-maarten-lens-fitzgeraldKeeping in TouchMaarten's Website - www.lens-fitzgerald.com Maarten on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/lensfitzgeraldMaarten on Twitter - twitter.com/DutchcowboyHost: Roger Kibbe(@rogerkibbe) is a senior developer evangelist for Samsungwww.linkedin.com/in/rkibbeEpisodesAll Bixby Developers Chat Episodes available on your favorite podcast player and at:bixbydev.buzzsprout.comMore about BixbySamsung Bixby is a next-generation, AI platform that enables developers to build rich voice and conversational AI experiences for the Bixby Marketplace, and Bixby devices including phones, watches, televisions, smart appliances, and more.Bixby Developers Homepage - https://bixbydevelopers.com/Bixby Developers Github - https://github.com/bixbydevelopersBixby Developers YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/bixbydevelopersBixby Developers Twitter - twitter.com/BixbyDevelopersBixby Developers Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BixbyDevelopers/Bixby Developer News/Blogs - https://bixby.developer.samsung.com/Support the show (https://www.bixbydevelopers.com)

This episode is a little different. Roger was interviewed by the Two Voice Devs podcast a couple of weeks ago. In this podcast within a podcast, Roger's interview by Mark Tucker and Allen Firstenberg, of Two Voice Devs, is embedded within the Bixby Developers Chat podcastBecause of vacations, the regular Bixby Developers Chat format will be back in about a monthRoger and Mark Tucker DiscussRoger's tech background and how he got into voiceRoger's work for Samsung as a Bixby Developer EvangelistHow Bixby Development is differentCross platform voice development and tools like JovoThe Open Voice Network, what it is, and what work Roger is doing for it.If you are not subscribed to the excellent Two Voice Devs podcast, you should subscribe today. It's available on your favorite podcast player/voice assistant or on the web at:anchor.fm/two-voice-devsLinks from the ShowTwo Voice Dev's Podcast - anchor.fm/two-voice-devsGetting Started with Bixby Development - bixbydevelopers.comKeeping in TouchMark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuckerm/Mark on Twitter: @marktuckerAllen  on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/allen-s-firstenberg-950130/Allen on Twitter - @afirstenbergRoger on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/rkibbe/Roger on Twitter - @rogerkibbeHost: Roger Kibbe(@rogerkibbe) is a senior developer evangelist for SamsungEpisodesAll Bixby Developers Chat Episodes available on your favorite podcast player and at:bixbydev.buzzsprout.comMore about BixbySamsung Bixby is a next-generation, AI platform that enables developers to build rich voice and conversational AI experiences for the Bixby Marketplace, and Bixby devices including phones, watches, televisions, smart appliances, and more.Bixby Developers Homepage - https://bixbydevelopers.com/Bixby Developers Github - https://github.com/bixbydevelopersBixby Developers YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/bixbydevelopersBixby Developers Twitter - twitter.com/BixbyDevelopersBixby Developers Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BixbyDevelopers/Bixby Developer News/Blogs - https://bixby.developer.samsung.com/Support the show (https://www.bixbydevelopers.com)

In this episode, we look into concept generation with Brooke Hawkins - Conversation Designer at MyPlanet and voice tech ethics researcher with the Open Voice Network. Brooke leverages her unique perspective as we explore how to transform research insights into early concepts, as well as how to stay mindful of your audience and the potential blind spots in your data throughout that process. Other topics involve inclusivity in the design process, and how the value of automation may be shifting in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/voicethispod/message

As a nascent field, the voice AI industry has largely operated without any widely accepted standards in the last few years. However, government scrutiny has raised concerns over how tech companies harness data through their voice assistants and the amount of control they have in the market. Recently, the European Union released a report on the competition concerns stemming from major voice assistants. As a result, companies are banding together to launch initiatives that ‘democratize' voice: Matter, formerly Project Connected Home Over IP, will roll out devices later this year that are compatible with multiple assistants, and Amazon's Voice Interoperability Initiative seeks to do the same. This week, the Linux Foundation's launch of the Open Voice Network goes even farther in trying to establish comprehensive, open, and shared standards with a particular focus on data security and privacy. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rainagency/message

This week, Roger Kibbe guest hosts, along with Mark, to discuss what he does as a Developer Evangelist for Samsung's Bixby, how Bixby is different, what he does with the Open Voice Network, and his take on the voice industry in general.

Welcome to the Season 3 wrap up of the Sound In Marketing podcast. I'm your host Jeanna Isham, owner and founder of Dreamr Productions and Sound In Marketing Learning.  I create, consult, and educate brands and individuals on the power of sound in marketing.    Clips from my Season 3 interviews are as follows: Jay Kapadia of GM (00:58), Roger Kibbe of Viv Labs (02:16), Shyamala Prayaga of Digital Assistant Academy (04:27), Steve Williams, former VP of Post Production Services at Universal (05:55), Arafel Buzan and Mike Schulte of Mindshare's NeuroLab (07:34), Audrey Arbeeny of Audiobrain (08:33), Jon Stine of the Open Voice Network (09:07), and Miya Kanzaki and Brain Ostreicher of Pandora's Studio Resonate (10:43). Coming up in Season 4, we'll be focusing on definitions because if you don't fundamentally understand the industry, it's harder to navigate it and harder to ultimately succeed. And that's why every episode will start with What Is.  Season 4 premieres Tuesday June 22nd with our first episode What Is Social Audio with Ahmed Bouzid of Witlingo. For more information on sound and marketing, industry resources, courses, and to connect with a really amazing community, go to www.soundinmarketing.com. If you're a brand that is looking for a more specific assessment of their sound marketing options and/or are interested in creating sonic branding, go to www.dreamrproductions.com and let's discuss further. All other thoughts, comments, concerns, you can find me on Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also follow and subscribe to the Sound In Marketing Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Pandora, and Stitcher and don't forget to share it with your friends. Let's make this world of sound more intriguing, more unique, and more and more on brand.

In this episode, Roger talks with Jon Stine. Jon is the executive director and founder of the Open Voice Network. The Open Voice Network (OVN) is working to advocate for an open voice ecosystem and bring technical standards to voiceJon has a deep background in retail technology and strategy. Prior to founding OVN, John worked for many years at Intel and Cisco on retail technology strategy.Jon and Roger discuss:Jon's first experience with voice assistants and how he came to realize they can revolutionize how we communicate with technologyJon and Roger's mutual background in retail tech/retail strategyTech is only as good as the value it bringsThe opportunities and challenges for voice in retailBehavioral science and retail and where voice plays a roleHow to avoid voice being the next shiny penny (think RFID) for retailersHow we are in a post Turing test worldHow voice enables listening - listening both to the words but also the emotional state of your customersVoice and the retail funnel - where we are now, where we can goAvoiding the pitfalls of only measuring conversion or overly relying upon conversion as the sole important metric in a single channel/using a single technologyWhat OVN isThree primary OVN effortsInteroperabilityDiscoverability and a "DNS for voice"Privacy and SecurityWho can get involved with OVNThe opportunity for voice on non voice-first devices (TV's, Phones, Appliances, Watches etc)Jon's hidden gem voice experienceJon's predictions for voice in the 1, 5 and 10 year time framesWhy YOU should get involved with OVNLinks from the ShowOpen Voice Network - openvoicenetwork.orgOVN Voice Interoperability Event (June 15-17th) -  openvoicenetwork.org/voice_interoperability_form/Keeping in TouchJon on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/jonstine/Jon on Twitter - @joncstine1OVN on Twitter - openvoicenetHost: Roger Kibbe(@rogerkibbe) is a senior developer evangelist for SamsungEpisodesAll Bixby Developers Chat Episodes available on your favorite podcast player and at:bixbydev.buzzsprout.comMore about BixbySamsung Bixby is a next-generation, AI platform that enables developers to build rich voice and conversational AI experiences for the Bixby Marketplace, and Bixby devices including phones, watches, televisions, smart appliances, and more.Bixby Developers Homepage - https://bixbydevelopers.com/Bixby Developers Github - https://github.com/bixbydevelopersBixby Developers YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/bixbydevelopersBixby Developers Twitter - twitter.com/BixbyDevelopersBixby Developers Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BixbyDevelopers/Bixby Developer News/Blogs - https://bixby.developer.samsung.com/Support the show (https://www.bixbydevelopers.com)

Grab your Free Copy of “The 4 Biggest Mistakes That Stop Companies From 10X’ing Their Revenue” at https://www.scalerevenue.io/10x Van West is the CEO and Founder of Vocalytics and one of the founding members of The Open Voice Network.The origin story for Vocalytics started two-and-a-half years ago, although the business started officially about a year-and-a-half ago. Van got into marketing in his early twenties. By his mid-twenties, he had worked for several start-ups. He got tired of the marketing side of the business, however, and wanted to step more into active business development and a sales role and have more influence on building an actual business. Van discovered that his calling was to build companies. Over the last ten to twelve years, he has raised some venture, brought some products to market, built solutions, built consumer, and then built enterprise. He loved going into the enterprise space over the last six years. Specifically as an enterprise SAAS person and providing value at the top tier of the industry.Five or six years ago, Van had a lot of success. He was the first key hire into a computer vision start-up where they essentially took dumb security cameras and made them smart. Part of the origin story of Vocalytics happened several years ago. Van realized when integrating with security cameras that most of the cameras had an embedded microphone on board. But nobody was accessing that data or putting it to use, even though the technology was available and accessible. Currently, there are more than two billion security cameras in the world. And connected microphones are embedded in security cameras everywhere. Vocalytics got started with Van looking for ways to leverage that data for enterprise intelligence. Van considers it to be enterprise SAAS when you are selling to companies the size of Fortune 1 in Arkansas. When dealing with those big companies, Van has had most of his experience driving seven to eight-figure deals over the last five or six years.Clubhouse has added a lot of value to the market by taking widely available technology and creating an app and a platform for people to broadcast themselves as thought leaders and engage in conversations with incredible individuals. Van has not had much time to dive into it himself, however. Vocalytics is a very solutions-oriented company, and they fit into specific use-cases as buckets. Their technology turns dumb noises into intelligent sounds. They use machine learning and artificial intelligence in different ways to classify the background noise and clean it up. They have a portfolio of over 500 ambient and acoustic sounds in their library to help them understand behaviors and activities and the environments in which the sounds occur.At Vocalytics, they focus on integrating with security cameras to produce safety and security moments. And to accurately interpret, understand and classify those safety and security moments in real-time.Vocalytics got built with privacy as a human right. Privacy is a fundamental pillar of how they architected all of the company. They keep their processing local and run tiny ML to keep their data secure. Van sees the market shifting out of facilities and into the home in the future. Van feels that you’re not establishing a baseline unless you are having an organic interaction. That allows you to measure how successful an interaction was, improve it, and coach around it. Van’s experience in enterprise SAAS has been going into prop tech, integrating with the physical world infrastructure to extrapolate value from artificial intelligence and machine learning, and leveraging those technologies to extract value from existing assets, and managing his customers’ expectations.Vocalytics has started to hit their stride in understanding that the market, the world, and the society we are living in today have to be built towards the new normal and not the normal that we all grew up in. So they spent much of the last year working on customer development. Vocalytics has an opportunity right now to provide some incredible value for the health, safety, and security of the world we’re living in-Covid and beyond, and branching out into customer experience later on down the line.Links and resources:Vocalytics websiteVan West on LinkedInEmail Van West - van@vocalytics.ai

In this fascinating episode, Shekar and Gary interview Jon Stine, Executive Director of Open Voice Network, an industry association dedicated to developing standards in the world of voice assistance. As voice technologies develop, where will they be used? What types of data can be gleaned from voice interactions? Who owns the data? These are all questions the Open Voice Network is working to answer. The three also discuss what the implications are for retail and the role voice plays in a frictionless customer journey. 

In episode 77 Julie Daniel Davis interviews Jon Stine of the Open Voice Network. "The Open Voice Network (OVN) is dedicated to making voice assistance worthy of user trust—especially for a future of voice assistance that will be multi-platform, multi-device, multi-modal, and multi-use." (https://openvoicenetwork.org/). Julie serves on the educational steering committee of OVN and encourages any educator interested in using voice assistants in the classroom to join the movement.