Auto, hyphen, open parenthesis, veu

A voice-based autobiographical performance work, developed by deep listening to a synthetic clone of my voice, serves as a point of departure to consider the aesthetic and sociopolitical implications of the modes in which voices are represented in speech synthesis. In the context of the rapidly increasing use of voice-based devices and virtual assistants, such as Amazon Echo and Alexa, I discuss how recently developed artificial intelligence techniques are being used to produce hyper-naturalistic voices that conceal the sonic markers left by their production processes. These attempts at technically reproducing voices that are naturalized, by becoming indistinguishable from their originals, are historically situated through the examination of a series of cases, such as Thomas Alva Edison’s Tone Tests. In addition, these show how, by closely listening to synthetic voices’ technically mediated difference, we may establish forms of affective relationship with them that can favour a lasting transformation of how voices are thought and produced.