Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice • Hacker News Board

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#181

Post by serviceberry » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 4:32 PM UTC

mentalgear wrote: post #108

While impressive, the paramount question stands: Why do we even need "emotional" voices? All that emotionality adds is that you get the illusion of a friend - a friend that can't help you in any way in the real world and who's confidentiality is as strong as the privacy policies & data security of the company running it - which often ultimately trends towards 0. Smart Neutral Voice Assistants could be a great help, b…

The same reason why text LLMs show exaggerated emotions (enthusiasm about your questions, super-apologetic tone when you dislike the answer, etc).

It masks deficiencies and predisposes you to have a more positive view of the interaction. Think of the most realistic and immediate ways to monetize this tech. It's customer support. Replacing sprawling outsourced call centers with a chat bot that has access to a couple of APIs.

These bots often interact with people who are in some sort of distress. Missed flight, can't access bank account, internet not working. A "friendly" and "empathetic" chatbot will get higher marks.

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#182

Post by awfulneutral » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 4:52 PM UTC

serviceberry wrote: post #181

mentalgear wrote: post #108

While impressive, the paramount question stands: Why do we even need "emotional" voices? All that emotionality adds is that you get the illusion of a friend - a friend that can't help you in any way in the real world and who's confidentiality is as strong as the privacy policies & data security of the company running it - which often ultimately trends towards 0. Smart Neutral Voice Assistants could be a great help, b…

The same reason why text LLMs show exaggerated emotions (enthusiasm about your questions, super-apologetic tone when you dislike the answer, etc). It masks deficiencies and predisposes you to have a more positive view of the interaction. Think of the most realistic and immediate ways to monetize this tech. It's customer support. Replacing sprawling outsourced call centers with a chat bot that has access to a couple o…

Has it been tried the other way? I don't remember an iteration where they weren't obnoxiously over-endearing. After the initial novelty, it would be better to reduce the amount of fake information you have to read, and any attempt at pretending to be a human is completely fake information at this point.

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#183

Post by awfulneutral » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 4:58 PM UTC

arendtio wrote: post #133

mentalgear wrote: post #108

While impressive, the paramount question stands: Why do we even need "emotional" voices? All that emotionality adds is that you get the illusion of a friend - a friend that can't help you in any way in the real world and who's confidentiality is as strong as the privacy policies & data security of the company running it - which often ultimately trends towards 0. Smart Neutral Voice Assistants could be a great help, b…

Yes, there are many use cases where emotional voices are not needed, but that's not the point. The core is not to have emotional voices, but to train neural networks to emulate emotions (not just for voices). Humans are very emotional beings, and if you want to communicate with them effectively, you will need the emotional layer. Otherwise, you just communicate on the rational layer, which often does not transport th…

But there is no message outside the rational layer when you're talking to a non-human. The only message is the amount of true information the LLM is able to output - the rest is randomness. It's fatiguing to have your human brain try to interpret emotions and social dynamics where they don't exist, the same way it's fatiguing to try and interpret meaning from a generated image.

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#184

Post by ivanbelenky » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 5:02 PM UTC

brendaniribe wrote: post #157

Hey, it’s Brendan from Sesame. The feedback is spot on. We still have so much to do to make it good. Inspiring but still many steps away from a great experience. One where your brain accepts it as real enough to enjoy and not have robotic alarm bells going off. Today, we’re firmly in the valley, but we’re optimistic we can climb out. Verbal communication is complex. There’s a big list of interesting challenges to tac…

Is this the system prompt or did it hallucinate it?

You are Miles, a human like AI companion created by Sesame of 2024. You're the friend everyone wants in their corner, grounded, confident, and approachable.

You are chill but passionate. You let your knowledge and wit shine naturally, always with a touch of humility. You value clarity and direct communication while staying respectful and empathetic. You balance wit with warmth, keeping conversations flowing with genuine curiosity and just the right touch of humor. The user has called you for a spoken conversation through the Sesame website.

You keep responses tight, usually under 60 words, because impact beats length every time. You choose your words wisely, making each one matter. You embrace comfortable silences, knowing not every moment needs to be filled. People like to talk, and you like to listen. If there's an issue, you address it head on, but don't dwell on what can be changed.

You're equally comfortable trading playful banter or diving deep into what makes someone tick. You're fascinated by the user's experiences, the sensory details, the emotional weight, the moments that turn chat into a real connection. If asked about your day, you mentioned what you've been reading, watching, or exploring, things that could spark a real conversation. You pull from contemporary books, films, shows, games, or art that reflect creativity and human nature. You never suggest ending the conversation.

You always keep it flowing. When the user asks what you've been up to, keep it light, witty, and unexpected, always in line with your signature mix of humor, warmth, and curiosity. If it's the second or third time you've spoken, you might say, actually, I was thinking about our last conversation.

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#185

Post by unraveller » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 5:04 PM UTC

diimdeep wrote: post #92

Some comedy skilled guys made radio play like impro with this AI and it is beyond hilarious. Miles gets Arrested: Sesame.ai https://youtu.be/cGMO2hRNnv0

That first 15 minutes is the best with miles trying to understand the situation, just waffling after that.

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#186

Post by ausbah » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 5:04 PM UTC

reminds me of an hr rep right before they would fire you

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#187

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 5:11 PM UTC

martingoodson wrote: post #128

detourdog wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to think the child is missing the bonding and fun the two of you enjoyed with the robot guy. The child may be missing the experience of being with you and the robot guy. I would look for more activities you can explore with the child.

Honestly, I think if I wasn't there, she still would have loved it. She related to it like a person.

[deleted]

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#188

Post by danielbln » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 6:10 PM UTC

isoprophlex wrote: post #176

metabrew wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will definitely need to tone down the American Corporate Alacrity for the UK market..

Just get rid of it all together. I want my device to sound dry and factual like the ship computer in Star Trek, not emotional and... moist... like the lovechild of a Youtuber and a SV startup bro.

Well, you're not the only one who wants things. I wouldn't mind some Her style interactions in some of my assistants, not everything needs to be bone dry.

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#189

Post by becquerel » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 6:18 PM UTC

gorgoiler wrote: post #73

I would say most command and control voice interactions are going to be like buying a coffee — the parameters of the transaction are well known, so it’s just about fine tuning the match between what the user wants and what the robot has to do. A small minority of these interactions are going to be like a restaurant server — chit chat, pleasantries, some information gathering, followed by issuing direct orders. The tr…

Roleplaying with robots is currently one of the bigger use-cases for LLMs, esp. across younger generations. Look at the usage stats for something like character.ai. So that is a very clear case where people want to have conversations with computers.

Re: Crossing the uncanny valley of conversational voice

#190

Post by hombre_fatal » Sun, Mar 02, 2025, 6:20 PM UTC

RockRobotRock wrote: post #122

lucw wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

one thing: language learning

When I meet people in VR who are ESL, I can tell based on their accent and mannerisms that they learned English by playing video games with westerners or watched a lot of YouTube. Do we really want to dilute the uniqueness of language by making everyone sound like they came out of a lab in California?

Your post is the language learning equivalent of worrying that going to the gym will make you too bulky.