Siri, behind you: ChatGPT launches the improved speech function

OpenAI rolls out developer version of improved voice function for ChatGPT, allowing users to "interrupt" in middle of chat reply for more human-like conversation.

 Scarlett Johansson (photo credit: REUTERS)
Scarlett Johansson
(photo credit: REUTERS)

Artificial intelligence is becoming "human" by the minute: the OpenAI company has begun releasing a developer version of the new ChatGPT with an advanced version of the voice recognition function. From now on, users will also be able to "interrupt" the chat in the middle of the answer so that it will be more accurate.

At the last launch event held in May, the company demonstrated for the first time the advanced capabilities of the voice chat that sounds almost human. On stage at the same event, OpenAI employees were seen conversing with the voice chatbot, interrupting the "voice" in the middle of its answer, so that its responses become more tailored to the questions and the topic of the conversation. 

Watch, the new voice assistant in a "human" conversation:

The company was criticized for sounding too similar to Scarlett Johnson, and was later rejected for safety reasons. According to the company, it has improved the malfunctions, and is now releasing the function to some users. 

The trial version was supposed to be released at the end of June, but OpenAI delayed the launch by a month to complete the necessary fixes. According to the company, the voice model's capabilities were tested with over 100 external teams who tried to "attack" the technology to find weaknesses. Recently the company has faced a lot of scrutiny regarding its safety policy, and decided to add new filters that will identify and block certain requests to create music or other copyrighted audio.  

During OpenAI's event, one of the main criticisms of the new mode was how much the voice on stage, nicknamed Sky, indeed sounded like Johansson's voice who played an artificial intelligence voice in the movie Her. Johansson herself, through her representatives, sent inquiries to the OpenAI company asking how the voice was created, and whether it was a processing of her voice. The company rejected the claims and claimed that the application cannot impersonate other people's voices.

OpenAI plans to launch the new voice mode to all ChatGPT Plus users in the fall. It has not yet been announced whether the final version will also be released to users in Israel.