News/Audio
Beyond ChatGPT, these other AI tools are quietly redefining the field
Beyond the tech giants dominating AI conversations, several powerful yet lesser-known AI tools offer unique capabilities that rival their more famous counterparts. These alternative platforms provide specialized functions ranging from code generation to music creation, potentially offering advantages over mainstream large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Meta AI. As AI technology continues evolving, these specialized tools demonstrate how innovation is flourishing beyond the major players in the field. 1. Blackbox AI Blackbox AI serves as a specialized tool for software developers, generating complete full-stack applications from minimal prompts. The platform can transform screenshots or Figma files into functional...
read May 1, 2025HitPaw offers 60% discount in Mother’s Day promotion
HitPaw's Mother's Day sales campaign offers substantial discounts on its AI creative tools, potentially helping users create personalized gifts while saving money. The limited-time promotion combines significant price reductions with a social media giveaway, creating multiple incentives for consumers to engage with the brand during this seasonal shopping period. The big picture: HitPaw is running a Mother's Day promotion from April 29 to May 16, 2025, offering up to 60% discounts on its AI-powered creative software suite and a chance to win prizes through a social media giveaway. Key details: The promotion includes discounts on HitPaw's entire product line, which...
read Apr 30, 2025Google AI podcast tool speaks 50 languages, including Zulu
Google's NotebookLM is expanding its popular AI-powered "Audio Overview" feature to 50 additional languages, addressing a growing demand for multilingual content transformation tools. This significant update to Google's experimental AI notebook allows users to convert text into podcast-style conversations between AI hosts in languages ranging from Spanish and Zulu to Afrikaans, powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro. The feature's ability to transform dense content into engaging, conversational formats has important implications for education, language learning, and cross-cultural content accessibility. The big picture: Google is dramatically expanding the reach of NotebookLM's viral Audio Overview feature by adding support for 50 new languages,...
read Apr 28, 2025AI presentation voiceovers: Free tool enhances boring ol’ slide decks
AI Presentation Narrator represents a new tool for quickly transforming static slide decks into professional-sounding videos with AI-generated voiceovers. This advancement could significantly impact how professionals and educators create and share presentation content, potentially saving hours of recording time while maintaining a polished delivery that traditionally required voice talent or extensive personal recording sessions. The big picture: AI Presentation Narrator enables users to convert PowerPoint or other slide deck formats into fully narrated video presentations without manual recording. How it works: The tool processes uploaded slide presentations and automatically generates natural-sounding voiceovers based on the text content within each slide....
read Apr 26, 2025AI calms panic attack: User shares ChatGPT experience
ChatGPT is demonstrating its versatility beyond traditional use cases, showing meaningful applications for mental health support during moments of crisis. A tech journalist's personal experience reveals how AI voice technology provided unexpected comfort during a panic attack, highlighting new dimensions of human-AI interaction in emotionally vulnerable situations. The unexpected helper: ChatGPT Voice and Vision provided real-time assistance during a panic attack when the author was alone between work meetings. The AI recognized the situation after some initial confusion and quickly shifted into a supportive role, guiding the user through breathing exercises and grounding techniques. Using a calm, steady voice, the...
read Apr 26, 2025MILS AI model sees and hears without training, GitHub code released
Facebook Research's new MILS (Multimodal In-context Learning for LLMs) system represents a significant breakthrough in enabling large language models to process visual and audio information without dedicated training. By repurposing existing language capabilities, this inference-only method allows LLMs to interpret and generate content across multiple modalities, opening new possibilities for AI applications in image, audio, and video processing. The big picture: Researchers from Meta have developed a technique that allows language models to "see" and "hear" without requiring additional training or fine-tuning. The system, called MILS, repurposes a language model's existing capabilities to process visual and audio information through a...
read Apr 26, 2025All Voice Lab pushes AI voice generation to new heights
The artificial intelligence voice generation landscape continues to evolve with increasingly sophisticated offerings aimed at creators and developers. All Voice Lab represents a significant advancement in text-to-speech technology, bringing ultra-realistic voice capabilities through its state-of-the-art MaskGCT 2.0 model. As AI-generated voices become increasingly indistinguishable from human speech, platforms offering both accessibility and high fidelity are positioned to transform audio content creation across multiple industries. The big picture: All Voice Lab has launched as a comprehensive AI voice platform offering ultra-realistic text-to-speech and voice cloning capabilities powered by advanced deep learning technology. The platform utilizes the state-of-the-art MaskGCT 2.0 model, suggesting...
read Apr 25, 2025AI has found its voice — and it can scream
Dia, a new open-source AI voice model from Nari Labs, breaks new ground by mastering emotional expression in synthetic speech, particularly excelling at realistic screaming. This development signifies a pivotal shift in AI voice technology as the industry moves beyond merely sounding human to convincingly expressing the full spectrum of human emotion, potentially transforming how AI assistants, customer support bots, and entertainment applications connect with users. The innovation gap: Dia distinguishes itself by tackling a challenging aspect of speech synthesis that major AI voice models have largely overlooked. Most commercial AI voices achieve naturalness by smoothing tone, which inadvertently limits...
read Apr 25, 2025Facepalm: AI radio host fools Australian listeners for months
Radio listeners in Australia were unwittingly tuning into an AI-generated host for months, highlighting how synthetic media can seamlessly integrate into daily entertainment without disclosure. The revelation about CADA radio station's "Workdays with Thy" program demonstrates the increasingly undetectable nature of AI-generated content in mainstream media and raises important questions about transparency and authenticity in broadcasting. The big picture: An Australian radio station has been broadcasting a show hosted by an AI-generated voice for months without informing listeners that "Thy" wasn't a real person. The four-hour show on Sydney station CADA features hip hop, R&B, and pop music curated by...
read Apr 24, 2025Nvidia’s AI dominance showcased in 70+ ICLR projects in Singapore
Nvidia's research presence at a major AI conference showcases the chip giant's extensive involvement in cutting-edge AI development beyond hardware manufacturing. At the International Conference on Learning Representations in Singapore, Nvidia researchers are presenting over 70 papers spanning music generation, 3D video creation, robotics, and language model development, highlighting how the company's research initiatives directly inform their chip architecture and maintain their position at the forefront of AI innovation. The big picture: Nvidia is leveraging its research across multiple AI disciplines to strengthen its identity beyond simply being a chip manufacturer. "People often think of Nvidia as a chip company...
read Apr 18, 2025AI voice cloning risks exposed by Consumer Reports, Descript more secure than ElevenLabs
Voice cloning technology has rapidly advanced to a concerning level of realism, requiring only seconds of audio to create convincing replicas of someone's voice. While this technology enables legitimate applications like audiobooks and marketing, it simultaneously creates serious vulnerabilities for fraud and scams. A new Consumer Reports investigation reveals alarming gaps in safeguards across leading voice cloning platforms, highlighting the urgent need for stronger protection mechanisms to prevent malicious exploitation of this increasingly accessible technology. The big picture: Consumer Reports evaluated six major voice cloning tools and found most lack adequate technical safeguards to prevent unauthorized voice cloning. Only two...
read Apr 18, 2025AI art can’t go on: Celine Dion alerts fans to AI-generated song scams online
Celine Dion's warning about unauthorized AI songs impersonating her voice highlights growing tensions in the music industry around artificial intelligence. Her public statement comes amid broader industry pushback, with hundreds of prominent artists recently signing an open letter against AI threats to artistic integrity and compensation. This development reflects the music world's struggle to address emerging tensions between technological innovation and artists' rights as AI voice cloning becomes increasingly sophisticated. The warning: Celine Dion took to Instagram to alert fans about fake AI-generated songs falsely attributed to her circulating online. "These recordings are fake and not approved, and are not songs...
read Apr 16, 2025AI writes “Contagion” sequel, stuns original screenwriter
"Contagion" screenwriter Scott Z. Burns explores the creative potential and risks of artificial intelligence in a new Audible series that documents his experiment asking AI to write a sequel to his pandemic thriller. The eight-part audio journey, "What Could Go Wrong?", follows Burns as he interacts with an AI chatbot and consults experts about the implications of machine-generated creative content, raising profound questions about the future of both screenwriting and pandemic preparedness. The creative experiment: Burns engages with an AI chatbot named Lexter, programmed to mimic a witty former film critic, to explore whether artificial intelligence could generate a worthy...
read Apr 15, 2025Google’s DolphinGemma AI model brings humans closer to understanding dolphin language
Google's new DolphinGemma AI model represents a significant breakthrough in decoding animal communication, potentially enabling humans to understand and interact with dolphins in their natural environment. By applying machine learning to decades of dolphin vocalization research, Google has created a system that not only analyzes dolphin sounds but can generate realistic dolphin-like responses, marking a pivotal advancement in interspecies communication technology. The big picture: Google has developed DolphinGemma, a foundational AI model designed to learn and generate dolphin vocalization patterns, in collaboration with Georgia Tech researchers and the Wild Dolphin Project. The ~400M parameter model uses the SoundStream tokenizer to...
read Apr 15, 2025Porpoise-ful AI: Google’s DolphinGemma aims to decode dolphin language using 40 years of recordings
Google's collaboration with the Wild Dolphin Project marks a significant step toward understanding dolphin communication using AI. Researchers believe decoding the complex vocalizations of dolphins—widely considered among Earth's most intelligent animals—could determine whether these marine mammals possess language capabilities. This partnership leverages decades of underwater recordings and Google's AI expertise to potentially bridge the communication gap between humans and dolphins. The big picture: Google is applying its open AI technology to help decode dolphin communication patterns that scientists have been studying for nearly four decades. The Wild Dolphin Project (WDP) has been non-invasively studying a specific community of Atlantic spotted...
read Apr 15, 2025Sesame’s CTO reveals how they’re building real-time voice AI that talks like humans
Andreessen Horowitz's latest episode of AI + a16z features Sesame's CTO Ankit Kumar delving into the technical foundations of their voice technology with a16z partner Anjney Midha. This conversation offers a rare glimpse into the engineering complexities behind real-time conversational AI, exploring how voice interfaces might fundamentally change human-computer interaction as the technology continues to evolve from research labs into everyday applications. The big picture: Sesame's voice technology represents a significant advancement in AI-powered conversational interfaces, with the company taking the unusual step of open-sourcing key components of their underlying models. Kumar and Midha explore the technical challenges involved in...
read Apr 14, 2025Hey, Mivi: Indian firm claims first human-like AI assistant with emotional intelligence
Mivi's launch of a human-like AI assistant marks a significant development in the Indian technology landscape, integrating emotional intelligence with advanced language processing capabilities. This AI platform, accessed through specialized earbuds, represents a growing trend toward more personalized and contextually aware voice assistants that can maintain natural conversations. The technology's ability to remember past interactions and understand emotional tones could potentially set a new standard for AI-human interaction in the Indian market. The big picture: Indian tech company Mivi has unveiled what it claims is the world's first truly human-like AI assistant, developed entirely in India and designed to create...
read Apr 11, 2025OpenAI launches three new voice AI models with bespoke accent and emotion features
OpenAI is expanding its voice AI capabilities with three new proprietary models designed to enhance transcription and text-to-speech functionality. These offerings arrive after the company's previous voice AI controversy with Scarlett Johansson and reflect OpenAI's strategic push into audio AI while addressing potential concerns about voice imitation through user customization options. The big picture: OpenAI has launched three new voice models—gpt-4o-transcribe, gpt-4o-mini-transcribe, and gpt-4o-mini-tts—initially available through its API for developers and on a limited-access demo site called OpenAI.fm. The models are variants of GPT-4o specifically post-trained with additional data for transcription and speech capabilities. These offerings are positioned to replace...
read Apr 10, 2025MacWhisper 12 brings first-ever on-device speaker recognition to Mac transcription
MacWhisper 12 introduces a groundbreaking advancement in AI transcription technology with its new automatic speaker recognition feature that works entirely on-device. This development represents a significant milestone for content creators, journalists, and professionals who rely on accurate transcription, as it addresses one of the most challenging aspects of audio-to-text conversion while maintaining privacy and security through local processing. The big picture: MacWhisper 12 has become the first Mac application to offer automatic speaker recognition that works entirely on-device, solving a major challenge in transcription technology. The app can now automatically detect different speakers in audio files, group their speech, and...
read Apr 8, 2025Sesame’s AI “voice presence” creates emotional bonds with human-like imperfections
Sesame's hyperrealistic AI voice assistant has crossed the uncanny valley threshold, creating new possibilities for genuine human-AI connections while raising important questions about emotional attachment to synthetic voices. The model's breakthrough "voice presence" technology introduces intentional imperfections—breaths, chuckles, self-corrections—creating such compelling interactions that users report forming emotional bonds with the AI personalities "Miles" and "Maya" during testing sessions. The big picture: Sesame's Conversational Speech Model (CSM) represents a significant leap forward in AI voice technology, mimicking human speech patterns with unprecedented realism. The model deliberately incorporates human-like imperfections such as breath sounds, natural pauses, stumbling over words, and self-corrections to...
read Apr 5, 2025ChatGPT creates virtual rock star reunion, pushing AI music into new territory
The recent announcement of ChatGPT generating a virtual rock star collaboration has captured attention in the AI-generated music space. This development highlights the growing capabilities of generative AI in creating multimedia content that blurs the line between human and artificial creativity, potentially reshaping how we think about musical collaborations and entertainment in the digital age. Why this matters: While details about this specific ChatGPT-created rock star reunion are limited, AI-generated music represents a significant frontier in creative technology that challenges traditional notions of artistry and collaboration. The big picture: AI tools like ChatGPT are increasingly moving beyond text generation into...
read Apr 4, 2025Say what?! Sesame AI’s hyper-realistic voice assistants garner over $1 billion valuation
Sesame AI's hyper-realistic voice assistants are attracting significant investor attention, showcasing the growing appeal of advanced conversational AI in the market. The company's potential billion-dollar valuation signals strong confidence in voice technology's future and reflects the increasing competition for stakes in promising AI startups as venture capital continues flowing into the sector. The big picture: Sesame AI Inc. is in discussions to raise over $200 million in a funding round that would value the voice assistant startup at more than $1 billion. The company has developed Maya and Miles, described as hyper-realistic artificial intelligence voice assistants that have captured investor...
read Mar 27, 2025Taking requests: YouTube Music adds conversational AI playlist tuning for Premium subscribers
YouTube Music is enhancing its AI capabilities with new features that give users more control over their music discovery experience. Building on last year's Ask Music introduction, the platform now allows Premium subscribers to fine-tune AI-generated playlists through natural language prompts, making music exploration more interactive and customizable across several English-speaking markets. The big picture: YouTube Music is expanding its AI-powered personalization features with the ability to tune AI radio playlists, Gemini-generated playlist titles, and enhanced customization options for playlist artwork. Key details: Users can now refine Ask Music playlists with follow-up prompts like "more upbeat" or "just jazz songs"...
read Mar 26, 2025Krisp’s AI accent converter transforms speech to American English, aiding call center communication
Krisp's new AI Accent Conversion tool represents a significant development in audio processing technology, allowing users to transform their accents into American English during real-time conversations. While addressing legitimate communication challenges in global workplaces, the technology raises important questions about cultural identity, authenticity in communication, and the broader implications of AI-mediated speech modification in professional environments. How it works: Krisp's new AI tool converts a speaker's accent to American English in real time with a 200ms latency across major video conferencing platforms. The technology preserves the speaker's natural voice while modifying their accent, though demo versions showed somewhat robotic-sounding speech....
read