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Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

#291

Post by _tom_ »

KaiserPro wrote: post #234
Dowwie wrote: post #118

I recommend you immediately add identity verification (state-issued identification verification), set up appropriate secrets store for PII, and audit trail EVERYTHING your users are doing, storing the contents in a secure location. Yesterday. This service will be used to harm others, shortly. I do think that there are exciting, honest things that can be done with this service but you need to set up some friction for…

Like this example here: https://playground.play.ht/listen/1554 which says: > "Hi Mom, I need some help. Some guys hit me over the head and put me in a van, and they're saying they'll kill me if you don't wire money to this bank account." top class. EDIT this was about one page down on the "see what people are generating" page

My stepmother tells she has been getting this type of scam, minus the accurate voice, for years. About one a year.

I'm not sure she would have spotted the scam if it had sounded right.

Re: Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

#293

Post by cpill »

midenginedcoupe wrote: post #6

Well, nothing could possibly go wrong, eh? If your homepage is toadying up to Musk by claiming he has "limitless intellect" then I've already heard enough. We have a duty to consider how what we build can be used to harm others. If the obvious and many ways this could be abused aren't covered anywhere I can find on your website, then I'm going to conclude you haven't considered them. Which is terrible.

yeah, we should just make all AI research illegal. I mean, without gate keeper the world will fall apart! Did you know that you can draw and write _anything_ with a pencil! We need to get onto that next. And the internet, you can publish anything you want on there!

Re: Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

#294

Post by chatmasta »

Dowwie wrote: post #118

I recommend you immediately add identity verification (state-issued identification verification), set up appropriate secrets store for PII, and audit trail EVERYTHING your users are doing, storing the contents in a secure location. Yesterday. This service will be used to harm others, shortly. I do think that there are exciting, honest things that can be done with this service but you need to set up some friction for…

Gasp! Yawn. HN has become so pearl-clutchingly alarmist recently. Everybody relax.

The solution to scams is to educate people on scams, as quickly as you can do so in the changing environment, by publishing information about what's possible with the latest technology. The solution is not to require onerous identity verification for every software product that could be used by scammers, because they'll just move to the next product that doesn't require it, or they'll simply provide fraudulent documents. Or you'll get "resellers" who provide their own fraudulent KYC documents and then sell access to their account to other criminals on the black market, making it even more difficult to monitor for abuse.

If you want a startup offering such tools to protect people from scams, they can do it by collecting data on what the tools are used for - it should be pretty obvious based on transcripts who is using it to scam people.

Re: Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

#295

Post by SirLJ »

muyuu wrote: post #289
braingenious wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. That guy sounds very nonchalant for being in life-threatening distress.

not just that, he sounds remarkably computer-like PS on the downvote: sorry if I did hurt someone's feelings, but it's the truth

Totally agree, this sounds awful

Re: Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

#296

Post by squarefoot »

sroussey wrote: post #137
bitL wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some cool uses like dubbing movies in foreign languages while keeping the original "voice styles" or having your long dead relatives talking to you in some memorabilia etc. It could also cause unexpected creativity explosion e.g. in games or fan fiction movies. To avoid misuses we might perhaps find the only good use of blockchain.

Foreign language dubbing is a great use case. And the ability to alter the video such the the lips are synced to the dubbed version would be a great addition. I can’t believe studios are using these things already (the video part in particular).

I think we're not that far from the day all movies will be produced by AI, including all parts in various languages using the most popular actors per given market, all accurately translated and of course perfectly synced since there would be no dubbing but creation on the fly. First they'll use virtual copies of real actors by purchasing rights from their estate, until the public will slowly accept full virtual and cheaper ones. I give them 20 years max, and I'm being optimistic (pessimistic?).

Re: Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

#297

Post by twodave »

Pxtl wrote: post #263
twodave wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, which leads to a place where nothing is trusted unless it came from some central authority or from some trusted piece of hardware. I'm not looking forward to the day when I have to use e.g. an Apple or Google piece of hardware or some locked down kiosk or "be famous" in order to conduct business.

The film industry has been pointing cameras at screens for decades. Trusted hardware won't work.

I assume trusted hardware would include things like LIDAR and biometrics, but if you're assuming those can be beaten then it will be a different kind of arms race, for sure.

Re: Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

#298

Post by tanepiper »

"Trusted by 7000+ users and teams of all sizes" [posts a bunch of company logos]

You've just launched in beta, how can you claim this? I'm always very suspicious of this (I take this from the position of being a tech lead at a multi-billion euro retailer who's logo you'll never be able to use)

Is this one developer? A team? Or is this just marketing bullshit for VCs who somehow don't verify if this is true or not?

Re: Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

#299

Post by JohnFen »

sva_ wrote: post #290
JohnFen wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why reproduce their voice? There's no value-add there.

Many people prefer an audiobook version of a book to be read by the original author, which isn't always the case. If an author could make that version happen by using 20 minutes of their time + text2speech of the whole book, that would be an immensely positive value proposition on the side of this company. But I'm not sure. Part of why I'd prefer the original author to read a book is that they vocally emphasize certa…

> Many people prefer an audiobook version of a book to be read by the original author

Right, but having AI read the book in the author's voice is definitely not the author reading the work.

As you mention, the reason that people like to hear the author read it is because it's the author reading it, theoretically emphasizing and acting things out according to what was intended. It's not just to hear the author's voice.

So I don't see what the value-add is.

Re: Launch HN: Play.ht (YC W23) – Generate and clone voices from 20 seconds of audio

#300

Post by SergeAx »

Great product, giving it a try. Here you saying that 20 seconds is enough, and on a "clone" page there is an instruction about 30 minutes for better result. Is there any kind of instruction about how to create a good sample of the voice? For example, should I speak English, or any language will do? Do you have some stats on corellation between sample length and generation quality? Thank you!
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