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veen  ·  2507 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: In case you hadn't noticed, text to speech has gotten eerily good

The implementation is inevitably behind on more advanced neural networks like the ones presented here, so I don't think it's fair to judge the cutting edge based on Bitchy Lady. Not that I disagree, I also find the consumer-accessible TTS awkward, but I found these samples intriguing because it was one of the first times when I couldn't discern the difference immediately between a human and a robot.

I found this in the context of a discussion about the slow but steady technological improvements that generally don't make a splash but are significant, i.e. "we overestimate technology on the short term and underestimate the long term". I got my answers right, but the fact that it was even remotely difficult is impressive IMO.

Funny similarity with your Aussie voice: Belgian Dutch sound infinitely nicer and softer than clunky native Dutch, so quite some people use the Belgian voice for their car navigation over here.