Meta, which is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is reportedly negotiating with several Hollywood celebrities to get the rights to use their voices for the MetaAI project. Meta will offer millions of dollars in payments to famous Hollywood celebrities such as Judi Dench, Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key to lend their voices in a range of AI tools that the company wants to develop.
The development of an AI project with an AI-powered voice assistant that has the voice of this celebrity is seen to create a more interesting user experience. In addition, the use of celebrity voices in this AI project can also distinguish Meta from its competitors such as Apple (Siri) and Google (Google Assistant). Previously virtual assistants with the voices of celebrities such as MrBeast, and Snoop Dogg were offered to Instagram users but this feature was discontinued last week.
This Meta step is also seen as a reflection of the future of AI that is increasingly integrated to become better over time. However, the wider social implications and effects of the use of celebrity voices in AI should be studied more deeply so as not to have a negative impact in the future.
For now, there is still no agreement reached, but it is interesting for us to look forward to the outcome of this negotiation and also its impact on the future of AI and the entertainment industry.