Comedian Joe Rogan has said all sorts of things on his popular, freewheeling podcast. But he probably hasn't said this: "Now that we have deepfakes and fake voices, I'm starting to believe that we're not far off from simulations after all."
What's happening: You can now hear him intone those words in his distinctive Rogan way right here.
Details: Researchers at Dessa, an AI company, say they have synthesized Rogan's voice. They claim to be able to type out any phrase and have him speak aloud.
This capability isn't new — we reported last month on audio deepfakes, AI-generated clips of people saying things they never said, and the defenders searching for ways to detect them.
What is new is the quality of this fake voice. We highlighted a synthetic Ellen DeGeneres clip last month that had her trademark lilt but still sounds very robotic. This one sounds nearly true to life.
See if you can tell the difference:Which of these clips are real and which are made up?
But, but, but: Dessa hasn't published any technical details about how it made the voice — it promises a follow-up in the coming days. We'll be speaking with Dessa to learn more, too.
