Is the telemarketer who just called a robot or a human? How about the administrative assistant booking upcoming appointments at the doctor’s office? Or the more insidious potential, straight out of the Terminator, of a robot impersonating a human?
The future will be filled with artificial intelligence, and a team of Australian researchers is preparing for this impending dystopia with a device that’s designed to identify when a voice isn’t human, Science Alert reports.
Billed as the “Anti AI AI,” this wearable artificial intelligence will identify “synthetic speech” used by the robots of the future. While current tech users encounter this “speech” every time they tell Alexa to play a song, or ask Siri what the weather’s like, the AI talk of the future won’t be so obvious to the human ear.
And the research team wants humans to remember they’re talking to a cold, lifeless machine — so the tech literally sends a cold chill down your spine when an impersonation is identified.
“We wanted the device to give the wearer a unique sensation that matched what they were experiencing when a synthetic voice is detected,” the research team explains on DT’s R&D blog.
“By using a 4×4 mm thermoelectric Peltier plate, we were able to create a noticeable chill on the skin near the back of the neck without drawing too much current.”
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.