Show HN: A tool to make a bot that speaks like you, learning from WhatsApp chats

I had been lurking with an idea where one could create a bot, which is a clone of yourself. Bot learns/trains by hearing what you say and how you say. When you talk with the bot, it replies back with your own voice, basically Siri with your own voice and attitude. It would be the best thing one could leave behind after his death.

Is it possible to pull off something like this?

Re: Show HN: A tool to make a bot that speaks like you, learning from WhatsApp chats

#5

Post by fredley » Tue, Nov 27, 2018, 5:51 PM UTC

iamrobschiavone wrote: post #2

Be Right Back

This comment is referencing Be Right Back, a Black Mirror episode featuring this exact idea as a premise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Right_Back

Re: Show HN: A tool to make a bot that speaks like you, learning from WhatsApp chats

#6

Post by bbody » Tue, Nov 27, 2018, 5:52 PM UTC

aminmemon wrote: post #4

This is very interesting. I had been lurking with an idea where one could create a bot, which is a clone of yourself. Bot learns/trains by hearing what you say and how you say. When you talk with the bot, it replies back with your own voice, basically Siri with your own voice and attitude. It would be the best thing one could leave behind after his death. Is it possible to pull off something like this?

Lyrebird (https://lyrebird.ai/) is trying to the voice imitation component.

Re: Show HN: A tool to make a bot that speaks like you, learning from WhatsApp chats

#7

Post by HaHa31 » Tue, Nov 27, 2018, 6:02 PM UTC

aminmemon wrote: post #4

This is very interesting. I had been lurking with an idea where one could create a bot, which is a clone of yourself. Bot learns/trains by hearing what you say and how you say. When you talk with the bot, it replies back with your own voice, basically Siri with your own voice and attitude. It would be the best thing one could leave behind after his death. Is it possible to pull off something like this?

Lol, I love seeing that no idea is completely unique. I have been thinking about it a lot over the last month. I am honestly wondering what your ethical concerns are with this "digital replication".

Re: Show HN: A tool to make a bot that speaks like you, learning from WhatsApp chats

#8

Post by DINKDINK » Tue, Nov 27, 2018, 6:17 PM UTC

A more interesting tool: a tool to stylometry-fuzz one's writing.

Re: Show HN: A tool to make a bot that speaks like you, learning from WhatsApp chats

#9

Post by josteink » Tue, Nov 27, 2018, 6:24 PM UTC

Why not learn from normal text-files instead?

Why connect it to a facebook-owned, proprietary service?

Re: Show HN: A tool to make a bot that speaks like you, learning from WhatsApp chats

#10

Post by asadlionpk » Tue, Nov 27, 2018, 6:31 PM UTC

josteink wrote: post #9

Why not learn from normal text-files instead? Why connect it to a facebook-owned, proprietary service?

You can probably skip that module from the code.