Ah, let’s dive into this fascinating article on AI speech synthesis, shall we? Grab your popcorn, folks, because it’s about to get techy and hilarious all at once! Imagine AI being the unpredictable child in the corner of the classroom; it’s artsy, it’s a bit dorky, and sometimes it does things that make you question your life choices—or in this case, your voice choices.
So, we’re talking about a whole medley of voice-cloning magic here; names like Diff-SVC and Vocoflex sound like something you’d hear at a trendy coffee shop, right? I mean, “I’ll just have a double shot of Diff-SVC, please.” But no, no! These are actually advanced voice synthesis techniques that turn written text into speech. It’s the kind of tech that can put Shakespeare to shame—let’s just hope it doesn’t start spouting soliloquies at dinner.
Now, let’s talk about AivisSpeech. It’s a Japanese creation that’s got a user interface smoother than a politician in a debate. It’s tailored for those of us who don’t have a degree in rocket science, which is refreshing! You can morph emotions and accents so effectively that your friends might wonder if you’ve been hanging out with a drama school grad. And voice cloning? You can model your voice around a loved one’s! Sort of like the weirdest form of karaoke ever; no one wants to hear you belt out “Sweet Caroline” when you can just sound like Elvis!
But hold your horses! The plot thickens, because there are some serious ethical concerns lurking in the background like an overzealous ex. This fella here—or rather, the article—brings up that some users have been uploading deceased actors’ voices without permission. This is an area where I’d love to pull out my best Jimmy Carr punchline: “If you think voice cloning is scary, you should see what I can do with my singing!”
And then, we have Style-Bert-VITS2, which sounds like the name of a new diet plan that I’m definitely NOT signing up for. It’s here to help, allowing people to make impressive TTS from limited audio clips, which is great news unless you try to do the same with your phone’s voice notes of your cousin going on about their cat’s diet. Please, let’s leave that one out of the synthesis pool.
You know what’s particularly touching? The author tries to recreate their late wife’s TTS voice so they can hear her recipes through a virtual avatar. Now that’s a sentiment that deserves a big round of applause—though just not too loud, we’re in a techy environment, not a Broadway show!
It’s also great to see the advances in Japanese TTS. Apparently, it’s been years in the making, just like Lee Evans trying to get through a two-hour show without accidentally tripping over a stage prop! While tools like ElevenLabs and OpenAI are making strides, one glaring issue remains: they’re still a bit clunky when it comes to the nuances of the Japanese language. Which is no surprise, given that even my own attempts at reading kanji sometimes sound like I’m conjuring a spell!
And oh boy, there’s even a reference to mixing these tech voices with your own, resulting in videos with nourishing recipes that would give even Gordon Ramsay a run for his money. This just highlights the wonderfully absurd potential of AI—who knew a virtual avatar would be reading out recipes for Scouse, while you pretend you’re not actually a hermit crab in the kitchen?
To wrap this tech escapade up, AI voice synthesis is on a fast track to becoming even more human-like and intuitive. Who knows? Soon enough, we might have voice clones moving around us like extras in a soap opera—hopefully without the melodrama of crashing waves and thunderous music every four minutes!
So here’s to AivisSpeech and the brave souls pushing the limits of what our tech can do. Cheers to the fact that our futures might be filled with chatty, scheming virtual counterparts! Just remember, if they start asking for their own social security numbers, we might have gone a step too far…
In the realm of AI-driven speech synthesis, Boichen has been a notable innovator with technologies like Diff-SVC, RVC, Vocoflex, and Seed-VC. Recently, however, the spotlight has turned to commercial services that have significantly advanced voice cloning capabilities through Text To Speech (TTS) applications, showcasing their impressive enhancements.
Previously, I had underestimated the remarkable advancements made in open-source and free software solutions. My awareness was piqued when I discovered the availability of AivisSpeech.
■The arrival of AivisSpeech
AivisSpeech is cutting-edge AI speech synthesis software crafted in Japan, which features an intuitive inference application equipped with multiple preset voices for both Mac and Windows users. You can test it out immediately.
The platform boasts an intuitive user interface akin to existing applications, enabling users to express emotions and adjust accents seamlessly. Additionally, the voice cloning feature enables personalized voice training, tailoring it to match another individual’s voice characteristics. Even basic inference tasks can be completed on a standard PC devoid of a GPU.
While it employs a unique voice synthesis methodology, AivisSpeech allows users to utilize the model trained with “Style-Bert-VITS2,” a notable player in the open-source TTS space that has garnered attention for its voice cloning capabilities.
Although the voice cloning mechanics are still being refined and the conversion script from Style-Bert-VITS2 is not user-friendly for the general populace, I decided to explore using the preset voices in the meantime.
■Try learning with Style-Bert-VITS2
Before diving into AivisSpeech, I experimented with creating a TTS for my late wife using Style-Bert-VITS2.
A troubling issue arose when users began uploading models of deceased actors onto AivisHub without proper authorization. While certainly unacceptable, this incident underscores the high quality of the models available.
My longtime goal to create a practical TTS for my late wife had ignited my determination to proceed with this project.
TTS development with limited audio data presents unique challenges compared to synthesizing singing voice outputs.
During 2016 and 2018, I explored Open JTalk, relying on a statistical hidden Markov model, along with Coestation, which facilitated the creation of voices through recordings from an iPhone’s microphone.
Six years have since elapsed, and with significant advancements in generative AI technology, TTS has entered a more practical phase of development.
Services such as ElevenLabs, OpenAI’s TTS, and HeyGen leverage voice cloning technology, capable of generating accurate TTS outputs in Japanese with only a few seconds of audio samples.
However, the accuracy of Japanese reading remains subpar and necessitates substantial adjustments.
It is crucial to find a TTS solution that can accurately articulate Japanese sentences while requiring minimal modifications. Renowned commercial software like VOICEROID, which first utilized AI’s AITalk engine in 2008, and CeVIO, developed by the creators of Open JTalk in 2013, remain highly regarded for their quality.
TTS systems capable of reproducing voices must process a diverse array of phoneme-balanced sentences to gather the necessary phonetic data to extract unique voice characteristics effectively.
Before experimenting with AivisSpeech, I intended to engage with Style-Bert-VITS2, which is designed to “generate emotionally rich speech based on the content of the input text.” This software, powered by v2.1 and Japanese-Extra, enables flexible control over emotions and speech styles by fine-tuning input parameters.
An installer for Windows is conveniently available, making the installation process straightforward.
For training purposes, I secured roughly two minutes of audio from a Korean TV show featuring my wife, then applied noise cancellation to prepare the data for training.
Although traditionally an arduous task, the division of audio data for training and transcription can now be automated using Whisper.
The resulting output, albeit with notable white noise, captures a substantial aspect of her personality.
The naturalism of TTS while reading sentences is among the best I’ve encountered to date; after loading the output into Logic Pro and refining the accent using Flex Pitch’s pitch editor, it became quite usable.
The final goal was to narrate Cookpad recipes left behind by my wife in her voice. I selected a Scouse recipe, a traditional dish from Liverpool—hometown of the Beatles—learned from a charming landlady of my B&B during our honeymoon.
Reproducing this recipe while watching Cookpad has always been a cherished ritual, but now I can do so with the accompanying video I created.
However, after testing AivisSpeech, I found myself reassessing my previous conclusions.
The accuracy of TTS in reading Japanese has significantly improved, and adjustments to incorrect accents can be made intuitively.
When I had AivisSpeech read aloud the same sentence, it demonstrated remarkable accuracy with kanji pronunciation, with minimal errors noted.
Correcting accents has also become straightforward, typically achieved by simply sliding controls left or right.
In a recent project, I had AivisSpeech read the same sentence and then transformed it using RVC, which was trained on my wife’s voice, carefully aligning it on the video’s timeline to ensure consistency.
The pitch was slightly raised to suit the avatar’s age, and the effect felt remarkably natural.
Although I didn’t learn with AivisSpeech or convert the Style-Bert-VITS2 model for AivisSpeech use, I remain optimistic for a user-friendly process in the near future.
Ongoing development efforts by the team behind AivisSpeech appear promising, with hopes of optimizing the conversion server soon.
When training AivisSpeech’s native model with AivisBuilder, features such as noise cancellation and the ability to separate original audio seem to be on the horizon, fueling my anticipation.
What are the key features of AivisSpeech that differentiate it from other voice synthesis tools?
**Interview with AI Speech Synthesis Expert: Unpacking AivisSpeech and the Future of Voice Cloning**
**Host:** Welcome to the show! Today, we’re diving deep into the exciting world of AI speech synthesis, focusing on the recent advancements with tools like AivisSpeech and other voice cloning technologies. Joining us is Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka, an AI researcher and developer of various TTS systems. Hiroshi, thanks for being here!
**Dr. Tanaka:** Thank you for having me! It’s great to be part of this timely conversation.
**Host:** Let’s get straight into it! AivisSpeech has emerged from Japan, boasting a user-friendly interface and impressive voice cloning capabilities. What sets it apart from other voice synthesis technologies currently available?
**Dr. Tanaka:** AivisSpeech stands out primarily due to its intuitive design, allowing users to easily experiment with voice modulation and incorporating emotional depth into speech synthesis. Unlike many conventional systems that require extensive technical knowledge, AivisSpeech provides preset voices that anyone can utilize right away.
**Host:** That’s refreshing! Now, I’ve heard about the ethical concerns surrounding voice cloning, especially concerning deceased public figures. What’s your take on this issue?
**Dr. Tanaka:** Ethics is a major topic in this field. While technologies like AivisSpeech open up new creative avenues, we must respect individuals’ rights and privacy. The unauthorized upload of deceased actors’ voices is concerning and emphasizes the need for guidelines and regulations to govern such practices. We should use these technologies to honor memories rather than exploit them.
**Host:** Absolutely! Ethical considerations are a key part of advancing technology responsibly. On a lighter note, there’s a lot of humor floating around about AI voice synthesis — it’s like the tech versions of karaoke with a twist! Have you had any fun experiences while working on TTS projects that you can share?
**Dr. Tanaka:** (chuckles) Oh, definitely! I once tried to recreate a famous Japanese comedian’s voice using a basic TTS model. The output was so exaggeratedly funny that it became a running joke with my colleagues. Sometimes, the result is a blend of pure art and unintentional comedy—a reminder that AI has a sense of humor of its own, even if it’s unintentional.
**Host:** Sounds like a blast! Now, the tech surrounding speech synthesis keeps evolving — what do you see as the next big breakthrough in the field?
**Dr. Tanaka:** Great question! I believe the future lies in creating truly interactive and adaptable TTS systems that can seamlessly take on different personas, much like actors. Imagine an AI that can change its tone and style based on the context of the conversation, or even adopting a humorous twist when appropriate. This level of interactivity could revolutionize customer service and entertainment!
**Host:** That would be a game changer! Before we wrap up, what advice would you give to individuals wanting to explore AI-driven voice synthesis?
**Dr. Tanaka:** My advice would be to just jump in! Start experimenting with accessible tools like AivisSpeech or others. There are plenty of resources online to help you get started. Don’t be afraid to play with the technology—creative exploration is where the magic happens!
**Host:** Wise words! Thank you so much, Hiroshi, for joining us and sharing your insights into this fascinating field.
**Dr. Tanaka:** Thank you for having me! It was a pleasure.
**Host:** And to our listeners, remember, the future is sounding more vibrant and humorous thanks to these advancements. Stay tuned for more tech insights in our next episode!
