No doubt about it--George Orwell is the seminal intellectual genius of modern times.

--Brant

This is a "wag the dog" moment...

William,

I'm putting this here for future reference. I have a feeling that once you see what it is, you will go nuts with it. (The Steam version is pretty cheap.)

For example, imagine lip-syncing an audio speech of someone famous, but as a talking cheeseburger.

Or lip-syncing robotic voices (of, say, an OL post) as a talking raccoon.  

And all those facial gestures... Who knew a cheeseburger could do that?  

FaceRig

I don't have time for the distraction right now, but I'm going to eventually futz around with this thing.

Michael

A couple of excerpts from the Business Insider article by Rob Price:

Quote

Just look at "Star Wars: Rogue One" for an example of how this tech will be employed by Hollywood studios in years to come. Peter Cushing reprised his role as Grand Moff Tarkin — even though he had been dead for 22 years. His image was reconstructed using CGI overlaid on a real actor.

Left: The real Peter Cushing. Right: A digital reconstruction, two decades after his death.Lucasfilm/Disney

Muh Russia! (preceded by note of a particular false story detailing events that did not happen during the Turkish coup attempt)

Quote

Russian state propaganda outlets Russia Today and Sputnik pushed the false narrative, aided by thousands of English-language tweets sent from accounts identified as bots controlled by the Russian government, Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow Clint Watts told the US Senate Intelligence Committee in 2017.

 

This is an example of Russia's longstanding policy of "active measures" — spreading misinformation for propaganda purposes or to help it achieve its strategic objectives. Gregory C. Allen, an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, argues that these efforts from Russia — and others like them — will receive a powerful shot in the arm from developments in CGI and AI.

"We have seen foreign governments be more than willing to rely on ... propaganda in the text real and in the fabricated imagery realm," he told Business Insider. "They have demonstrated their willingness to sprint as fast as they can in this exact direction, and making use of every tool that is available to them."

The future could see authoritarian states using forged media to help generate dissent in the populations of rival countries, much like what happened at Incirlik — and to discredit and damage political opposition at home.

Allen also discussed the national security implications of artificial intelligence in a recent paper, warning: "We will struggle to know what to trust. Using cryptography and secure communication channels, it may still be possible to, in some circumstances, prove the authenticity of evidence. But, the 'seeing is believing' aspect of evidence that dominates today — one where the human eye or ear is almost always good enough — will be compromised."

Here also, a demonstration of the in-development software called Lyrebird: 

Thanks, Michael, for the FaceRig link. It is the least-creepy among the developed and developing technology.

-- I have subscribed to the Lyrebird project, for an opportunity to harness its text-to-voice engine for the better of Objectivist Living.

It would be in the "oral tradition" of Objectivism. Imagine a "New" Ayn Rand recording coming to light ...

21 hours ago, william.scherk said:

Here also, a demonstration of the in-development software called Lyrebird: 

Some people don't need no stinking AI. They know what to do with actual words actually spoken.

Michael

25 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Some people don't need no stinking AI. They know what to do with actual words actually spoken.

Michael

Base  but funny.   

This is incredible. Steven Seagall doing the Lezginka!

If that is not fun enough, check out the Vladimir Putin Mix ...