Meta could showcase AI with voices from stars like Judi Dench next month

Judi Dench, Keegan-Michael Key and Awkwafina are just some of the “actors and influencers” whose voices could become part of Meta’s AI offering. Bloomberg reported on Friday. The company is apparently working to close the deal quickly so it can expand and showcase novel voices at the Meta Connect conference in September.

Specifically, at least one tool will be a “digital assistant product called MetaAI,” according to multiple anonymous sources in New York Times report. Meta is in negotiations with all the top talent agencies in Hollywood to secure the votes, Times writes. And he can pay actors who sign contracts for “millions of dollars”. Meta similarly large stacks were distributed to celebrities represented by recently retired Meta AI chatbots from last year’s Connect conference.

The deals are reportedly transient, with the actors able to decide whether to extend their contracts after the contract period ends. And the voices could be heard on Meta’s social media, seemingly wherever Meta AI exists today. That includes Facebook and Instagram, as well as Meta’s Ray-Ban shrewd glasses, the outlet writes. Meta did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

But each of these implementations feels novel, and at least to me, they get senior very quickly. Generative AI has proven to be undeniably better at imitating real human voices, though, as in OpenAI’s GPT-4o chatbot demo, which sounded surprisingly like Scarlett Johansson (which she didn’t like). Hearing Awkwafina’s signature snoring will seem a lot less like a budget-friendly trick if the notable Meta AI version can do everything it normally does (though we won’t know if that’s how it will work unless and until Meta announces the featured voices).

And I don’t have Meta Ray-Bans, but I’d be tempted if it meant AI Dame Judy Dench could tell me, I don’t know, about the bridge I’m looking at. I like that she’d get a negotiated fee for it, and besides, while she’s lying to me about the bridge, I can just pretend the voice is supposed to be M, Dench James Bond intelligence chief trying to throw me off track.