"Radio station that produces 'Radiolab'"—That was the clue on the Wednesday, July 24th, 2024, New York Times (NYT) crossword puzzle. The answer was WNYC, which in my mind stood for W—New York City (NYC). Intrigued, I went to my podcast app and searched for RadioLab and WNYC, and discovered the Radiolab podcast.
If you are a science/technology geek and listen to podcasts like me, please check out the Radiolab weekly podcast. WNYC drops new episodes on Fridays, which have expanded my sphere of knowledge and learning. For instance, did you know dolphins sleep with half their brain while they use the other half to swim and breathe, or the killer instincts of Argentine ants? Sometimes, I wish the Argentine men's soccer team had killer instincts against their opponents.
As someone who works with software, cybersecurity, and data, including artificial intelligence (AI), I find yesterday's RadioLab podcast episode called Shell Game simply fascinating. It is a good example of how AI voice leveraging generative AI like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and others are getting sophisticated. The RadioLab host Latif Nasser interviews Evan Ratliff, a tech journalist who writes about the seedier side of technology. Evan and his team created a voice AI that sounds just like Evan, and during the episode, Latif plays recorded sessions of Evan's interaction with regular people on the phone. For instance, in the podcast, I heard the digital Evan interfaces with an online therapist, a $1200/hr attorney, entrepreneurs, etc.
It made me wonder how a digital version of myself—let’s call it digitalEnoch—would fare. How would an AI model learn from me and mimic my behavior? Would digitalEnoch be more analytical or more empathetic? For instance, would digitalEnoch use the word "perfection?" You will need to listen to the RadioLab podcast to find out about the word "perfection."
In summary, check out this podcast if you want to see how generative voice AI is evolving. Put on your cybersecurity hat; it's a fascinating future. I wouldn't say scary because policies, processes and technology are also evolving to put "bad guys" in check. Here are a couple of links:
- RadioLab podcast episode called Shell Game - http://www.wnycstudios.org/story/shell-game/
- Evan Ratliff podcast with his digital version interacting with several individuals -https://www.shellgame.co/podcast
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