Personal AI becomes a thing. Who voices yours?

Oddbin@beehaw.org to Chat@beehaw.org – 57 points –

Let's say we're at a place where personal AI is a thing. You can have it speak with any voice from any person in history or any media without any copyright issues or the like. Who would you want to voice yours?

I'm going to go with a classic, Majel Barratt. When I think of AI, how we use it now and how we could use it in the future, the Computer voice in Star Trek TNG - Voyager seems like a perfect fit.

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Mr. T

*Also Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashlo)

Shohreh Aghdashlo is definitely my first pick.

Mine as well, and I thought I was being so original before I started reading the answers!

  1. Christopher Walken
  2. Morgan Freeman
  3. Denzel Washington
  4. Bruce Willis
  5. Bobcat Goldthwait (he's gotta do the voice tho)

Edit: bonus points if the AI is a little sassy.

A sassy Morgan Freeman voice is the perfect option for me as well😋

It's likely that most people think of themselves as a should-use-Morgan-Freeman-voice kind of person, when in reality they are a deserves-only-Bobcat-Goldthwait-voice kind of person.

I'd probably have it switch itself daily as well as the personality if possible.

I don't need to be attached to a computer person, I'm already addicted to social media enough. Besides, it sounds fun to meet a new "person" everyday.

This is literally the project I'm working on. I have mine voiced as my husbando Impey Barbicane from Code Realize. Though I'm thinking of training a tts on some youtuber voices that I like.

Lance Reddick (Daniels in The Wire, Commander Zavala in Destiny).

"I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that" - 2001: A Space Odyssey

Who wouldn't want the first murdering AI as their personal assistant?

Majel Barratt is a great shout - I'd probably go for Data or Picard though :). Or maybe Holly from Red Dwarf?

Oo good choice. Which Holly though, Norman or Hatty?

A great question. Probably Norman just so he can randomly say "What's happening, dudes?", but Hattie had some pretty good lines too, she could bang her head on the screen to count things.

The rehabilitation nurse from Frasier played Holly too, in the short-lived US adaptation of Red Dwarf. Seemed like a good fit for her.

Or it will depend on situation - in the morning Queeg wold wake you up, and Holly will read you random facts before going to bed.

I want to be commanded by Klaus-Dieter Klebsch (example).

Though for everyday life a smoother voice would be nice, like Janet Varney maybe?

I would give anything to have Jonathan Van Ness flamboyantly guide me through the day.

It sounds like Sir David Attenborough and it makes a lot of double entendres.

No one has yet mentioned GlaDOS (a robotized Ellen McLain) or Christopher Lee.

Either would be good.

Charlie Kelly.

AI logic is wildly inconsistent still and I feel like I'd be more understanding of it sounded like Charlie. Plus, I'd be asking it to do a whole lot of work I don't want to do.

I don't think I could handle a sexy lady ai so maybe having my own one based on a billionaire I can bully would be nice

Pretty tough for me to pick a specific voice. The one non-negotiable for me is that it's gotta have a hint of that digital and computer feel like Iron Man's Jarvis, Interstellar's TARS, or Portal's GLaDOS.

It's cool to hear digital voices getting clearer as time goes by, but there's something to the slight digital artifact that delights me. It appeals to my sci-fi interests, I suppose—makes me feel more like a spaceship captain or something. I already purposely try to pick some of the older sounding voices for stuff like Siri or VoiceOver to get some of that bitcrunch or whatever those qualities sum up to. If I can get that robotic grit while still having an up-to-date voice that can pronounce and annunciate well, that'll be Perfect 🤖👌.

Same. I feel like it's a reminder that it's a tool, not a person, and not something to be relied on too readily.

I would have a very hard time choosing between Alan Rickman and Hugo Weaving, especially in his role of V from V for Vendetta. A close third would be Pedro Pascal as the Mandalorian. I guess I just have a thing for masked guys, haha.

John DeLancie. That man's voice is honey to my ears.

Alternatively, Kari Wahlgren.

Edit: How the fuck could I forget about Stephen Russell? Give me Garrett or Nick Valentine, either would be fine.

Speaking of Nick Valentine, Humphrey Bogart could also be an interesting voice for personal AI.

And I also forgot the lovely Laura Bailey and Matt Mercer.

I'm not comfortable with a voiced computer that doesn't have Majel Barrett's voice, frankly. Google Assistant/Siri/Alexa hit my ear wrong as it is.

Agent Smith, and he has to be disgusted by everything all the time.

Samuel L. Jackson, but only if he's allowed to say "motherfucker."

I've always wanted Bill Nighy voicing my daily life so he'd be a strong candidate.

Or Ash Sroka doing Tali from Mass Effect

Stephen Fry speaking into a jug. Wise and collected, with a hint of robot.

majel for me.

i once setup a lab of machines (were talkin win98) , and set all of the windows functions to audibly play snips from TNG.. all majel. "booting", "starting program", "shutting down"... it was pretty great... until you get 30 kids doin stuff at the same time sans headphones.

  • Alan Watts

  • Simon Templeman or Tony Jay (both in the Legacy of Kain series, Kain and Elder God respectively).

  • Morgan Freeman

Tom Servo. I already installed AI in my Tom (automotom) Servo, now I just have to train the voice.

Keith David. I have a strong personal belief that one day that man's voice will be integral to the discovery and/or implementation of the cure for cancer. I also think he would be a benevolent AI overlord.

Keanu Reeves so it would be like a copy of the Johnny Silverhand engram.

Cortana.
Speaking of AI, I've actually been playing Deep Rock Galactic with an AI generated Cortana voice mod lately and while not perfect, it is pretty neat.

Jon Lovitz, playing Jay Sherman. Our personalities match up disconcertingly well.

I think I'd have to go with RC Bray. I could listen to him tell me just about anything.

Hm.

Famke Janssen, if she's reprising her character from Goldeneye
Kate Beckinsdale, in her role as Selene from Underworld
Kathleen Turner, as Jessica Rabbit.

Yes, I'm a simple Man, with simple tastes =P

I think Jeff Goldblum would be a good fit for me. Mostly because I don’t think I’d want a completely reliable or useful AI companion, just one that adds pleasantness and weirdness to my day to day.

Alice Fraser's voice after hearing or making a pun. The happiness/joy is audible and infectious.

I'll go with Norm Macdonald off the top of my head. Not necessarily my final choice but that'll do for now.

Anthony Howell. I'm not sure how well he's known, but that man has a voice that I want to read me to sleep.

Jeremy Irons, Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Christopher Judge, to start with.

Had a longer list by mood, but Jerboa crashed. Not writing that shit again.

Tricia Helfer, b/c I need EDI with me every day

For me it's a toss up between Tali, Garrus, EDI and Legion's voices. Give me any of those and I'd be a happy man.

Honestly like anything I would likely change it over time depending on my options.