John Markoff, writing for the New York Times:
Imagine receiving a phone call from your aging mother seeking your help because she has forgotten her banking password.
Except it’s not your mother. The voice on the other end of the phone call just sounds deceptively like her.
It is actually a computer-synthesized voice, a tour-de-force of artificial intelligence technology that has been crafted to make it possible for someone to masquerade via the telephone.
Such a situation is still science fiction — but just barely. It is also the future of crime.
Very believable to me. If they can stick a perfect simulation of Audrey Hepburn in a modern TV ad, it’s not a far stretch to imagine them simulating my mom’s voice.
Scary.
“Uh, Mom, what’s the watchword?”
Please hold while I access the hacked Experian database and process the most likely answer to that question.
I imagine they have a lot more vocal samples of Audrey Hepburn, but if we imagine they can access every phone call that could tilt the other way.
Edit: Now, having watched it… no voice. And that does not look at all human.
“Uh, Mom, could you place your thumb on the Home button for Touch ID verification?”
The what now? Is that this thingy… no no, that’s my coaster….