Conversations Squared #9 Andrew Muir

We’re used to hearing Text To Speech in conversational AI, but
that’s not the only option available. Voice assistants don’t have
to use synthetic speech - they can use recordings of a live voice
talent instead.


Andrew Muir, Lead Dialogue Designer at PolyAI, explains the
benefits of using voice talents. One of his points really
resonated with me - why voice talents ease users into the
experience!


00:00    Start


00:24    Tell me about yourself?


02:38    What's your favourite bot?


03:26    What are your biggest concerns about ChatGPT?


05:58    What journalistic skills do you use in
conversation design?


08:42    Why do you choose to use voice talent at
PolyAI?


13:10    So voice talent eases users into the
experience?


13:52    Where would you choose to use synthetic
voices?


15:56    Are you using voice talents and cloned voices?


17:03    Please tell me about your relationship with
the voice talents?


19:14    Do you give the voice talent freedom to create
their work?


19:50    Do voice talents push back against being used
in AI projects?


21:36    Voice talents could get left behind by
synthetic voices


22:46    Are voice talents proactively cloning their
voices?


23:21    How do you approach updates to avoid
spiralling costs?


26:24    Do you adjust the design based on a voice
actor's performance?


30:40    Is a synthetic assistant with an empathetic
voice a design sweet-spot?


31:51    Do you think there's scope for non-human
character design?


36:38    The way words are said matters


38:56    The user observes everything about the bot


41:16    How do you approach voice localisation at
PolyAI?


45:44    Personas are received differently in different
locales


46:43    You have to know the culture intimately to
localise


48:47    We have to expect we will keep updating our
work


50:35    Where can people find out more about you?








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