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I remember an Asimov short story in which scientists developed a machine that could see backward in time. If I recall correctly, the upshot was the government became terrified because any machine that can see 1000 years into the past can also see 1000 milliseconds into the past and therefore functionally be used to spy on anyone in real time.
Different author, but sounds somewhat similar to 'The Light of Other Days' by Arthur C Clarke and Stephen Baxter. Although iirc correctly it starts with being able to see other locations in space but at the same time, and the historical viewing is a second development. Fantastic book, even if it's not the same one you were thinking of.
It came up in an acoustics class once. I said that sound never really dies. It just bounces around until it becomes thermal energy, thus warming the room a little as a prelude to joking about professors talking hot air.
A student asked whether, one could recover sound from reverberations that had fallen below RT60? Could you listen back in time to conversations that had happened hours ago?
Obviously entropy can't be put back in the box with the technology we have now, but it makes you wonder.
Two things have since made me revise the question. One is recovery of sound from video images. The other was an archaeological recovery of sounds from a ceramic vase spun on potters wheel many centuries ago. Sorry but the references for both escape me atm.
As you'd be recording all of your conversations, this is illegal under some legislations, unless all your conversation partners agree with being recorded/their convos being stored.
I remember an Asimov short story in which scientists developed a machine that could see backward in time. If I recall correctly, the upshot was the government became terrified because any machine that can see 1000 years into the past can also see 1000 milliseconds into the past and therefore functionally be used to spy on anyone in real time.
There was an article some years ago (2 or 3?), that described a drone (or drones?) that flew 24/7 over Mexico city taking high resolution video of the entire city at all times. Whenever there was a crime, the police could zoom into that location at the time of the crime and then run backwards to see where the vehicles came from. They then knocked on that door. I'm disappointed that I can't seem to find it using Googl…
(which is a bummer, as there are lots of interesting uses for digitizing our lives if the data could be guaranteed to remain private)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There was an article some years ago (2 or 3?), that described a drone (or drones?) that flew 24/7 over Mexico city taking high resolution video of the entire city at all times. Whenever there was a crime, the police could zoom into that location at the time of the crime and then run backwards to see where the vehicles came from. They then knocked on that door. I'm disappointed that I can't seem to find it using Googl…
I've read about that happening in Cleveland, using tech developed to find insurgents leaving IEDs in Afghanistan. Yeah, citation needed...
FWIW, I also recall the tech being originally used to find people who planted IEDs in Afghanistan.
I'm kind of shocked about how all the articles I am finding seem to emphasize real-time police chases.
Now I'm feeling super suspicious.
Handling the privacy of other people might be oddly easy. If you can detect the voice accurately enough the AI might be able to _drop_ the other participants.
Dropping after the fact still means it was recorded, this violating two party notice statutes.
Is picking someone else up on microphone at all a violation of two party consent? For example walking past someone in public with a loudspeaker call active.
How would this work with other voices, like a coffee shop, would it hear those simultaneously, and interupt a command? Also, how do you handle using OpenAi whisper, seems like they do 30 second intervals - would that be an issue if your command is cut off mid word?