Meta debuts AI chatbot voiced by celebrities Judi Dench, Awkwafina and others

Meta’s artificial intelligence-powered chatbot spoke to CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a voice familiar to fans of American actress, comedian and rapper Awkwafina in a demo of the enhanced AI tool on Wednesday. 

That’s because Meta AI, the company’s virtual assistant, now reads aloud its responses to user queries, and can do so in the voice of a number of celebrities, the technology company announced at its Connect conference. The chatbot, which Meta says has roughly 400 million users, lets you choose the voice you hear.

Now those voices include Awkwafina, Kristin Bell, John Cena, Dame Judi Dench and Keegan-Michael Key, the company said. More generic voice options will also be available.

“I think that voice is going to be a way more natural way of interacting with AI than text. It is just a lot better,” Zuckerberg said in announcing the feature. Meta is adding celebrity voices to “make this fun,” he added.

In a demo of the tool at the conference, Zuckerberg said to the AI, “Hey, are live demos risky?” In the voice of Awkwafina, the AI responded, “Live demos can be risky, yes. They can be unpredictable, prone to technical issues and potentially embarrassing….”

The use of AI chatbots sounding like celebs drew attention earlier this year when ChatGPT developer OpenAI found itself in hot water over its use of a voice Scarlett Johansson said sounded eerily similar to her own. In May, the actress released a statement saying that OpenAI founder Sam Altman had asked her to voice ChatGPT’s text-to-speech product, but that she declined, according to a New York Times report. 

Nine months later, when ChatGPT introduced its voice product, Johansson said she was “shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference,” according to the report.  

The actors whom Meta has partnered with could have been paid millions in exchange for use of their voices, according to a New York Times report on the negotiations. Meta did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment on the terms of the deals.