Who said story time was just for children?
From today, stories on the Sky News website can be read aloud to you by presenter Jayne Secker – your very own on-demand newsreader, ready whenever you are.
The play button at the top of this article will do the trick, if you want to try it out.
Isn’t Jayne busy enough?
Yes – but don’t worry, this incarnation has got all the time in the world.
Through the power of artificial intelligence (AI), and several hours in front of a microphone, Jayne’s voice has been cloned and turned into a realistic text-to-speech tool.
Some 2,000 “utterances”, ranging from single words to complicated sentences, were recorded – creating a pretty enormous database of Jayne Secker voice clips which can then be tasked with reading any text you throw at it.
“I was slightly worried that it would end up sounding like the voice on the Tube,” says Jayne.
But as you can tell by hitting the play button above, it sounds incredibly natural.
If you tune in while making breakfast or going for a jog, you’d be hard-pressed to tell it wasn’t a live bulletin.
“It was really surreal,” Jayne says of the first time she listened to her virtual self reading an article.
“Is this something I have read out loud? But no, this is just what they’ve created. I’m doing myself out of a job…”
Who is behind this on-demand newsreader?
Sky News worked on the project with BeyondWords, which uses AI to make natural-sounding synthetic voices.
Co-founder and chief executive Patrick O’Flaherty believes AI and wireless headsets will change the way people consume information, just as the smartphone did.
“Sky News users are familiar with Jayne Secker, and the problem with existing text-to-speech voices is they are not made for reading or listening to articles, they tend to be generic voices for satnavs and call centres,” he says.
“In an article, you want someone who sounds more personable – a voice that the audience resonates with.”
The script of “utterances” recorded by Jayne was generated from previous Sky News articles – the Wagatha Christie case proved an especially deep well of content to base the AI voice on.
From there, the model was fine-tuned to ensure no mispronunciations and a natural pace and flow – meaning it really does sound like the real Jayne Secker, reading the news as she would on TV.
More stories to listen to:
AI is basically just an advanced pigeon, says study
Codebreakers crack Mary Queen of Scots’ lost letters
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Is this really a good idea?
You could be forgiven for asking that question, given recent headlines about AI voice cloning.
But if used responsibly, Mr O’Flaherty says, “you can use this for good”.
So while AI Jayne is available on-demand on Sky News platforms, she won’t be going anywhere else – you can’t have her read out your text messages or whatever book you’re reading.
“It will seem quite scary to some people, but here it has an actual use,” says real Jayne.
“The way people consume news is always changing, and this is creating another option for people.
“You might be going for a run, doing the dishes, and can have it playing in the background – it’s almost creating a bespoke news bulletin for yourself.”
And don’t worry, AI is only helping us read the news – it’s not being used to write it.
Trust us, we’ve tried.
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