Heard a guy at the coffee shop talking about AI voice cloning last week

He was saying how his buddy used one of those cheap voice cloning tools to fake a whole voicemail message from his boss. Made me think about how fast this stuff has snuck into normal life. I remember when text to speech sounded like a robot with a cold, now you can't even tell the difference half the time. The weird part is how casual he was about it, like it's no big deal. But I wonder if people are thinking about where this tech is headed in the next 5 years. Has anyone else overheard talk about voice cloning being used for pranks or scams?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannahsingh9d ago

My buddy got hit with something similar a few months back. His phone rang with what sounded exactly like his mom's voice saying she'd locked herself out and needed him to send a hundred bucks for a locksmith. He was halfway to the ATM before his actual mom texted asking why he was trying to gift her money on Venmo. Thing is, the recording even had her little hesitation before she says 'um' and the way she drags out certain words. It freaked him out enough that he made a family password for emergencies now. That casual coffee shop guy might think it's funny, but it's scary how easy it is to mess with people.

beth_reed9d ago

I get that it's scary, but I actually see these tools as mostly harmless fun for now. The tech itself isn't good or bad, it just depends on how people use it.

ray_campbell469d ago

Honestly, you're half right about it being harmless fun for now, but I think you're kinda downplaying the problem. The example Hannah just gave shows the tech isn't neutral when bad actors are already using it to steal money from people. Ngl, tools like this are getting scary good way faster than most folks realize. Tbh, when someone can clone your mom's voice with just a few seconds of audio from a TikTok, that's not really "harmless fun" territory anymore.