To be clear, it’s not technically Jackson’s voice. Amazon is using their new Neural Text-to-Speech technology to generate a synthesized version of the Marvel star’s vocals, rather than having the actor record a few canned lines. (The same approach is being applied to Alexa’s female voice to give it a more human touch.) It will also be limited in its usability, as the Jackson’s voice won’t work with shopping, lists, reminders, or skills (via Variety).
On the plus side, the feature comes in both clean and explicit versions, which means you might be able to have Sam Jackson scream at you to “wake the f*ck up!” every morning.
Jackson’s voice is just one of many celebrity options set to roll out on Alexa in 2020. Not only is Alexa’s voice changing, but her language is as well, thanks to a new bilingual mode. For now, Spanish and English is offered in the US, French and English in Canada, and Hindi and English in India.
You can purchase Alexa’s Jackson “voice pack” for a mere 99 cents beginning later this year. Once it’s downloaded, maybe it’ll be less weird to have the Saw reboot celeb randomly laughing at you then Alexa’s normal voice. Or more so.
Article Appeared @
https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/09/samuel-l-jackson-new-voice-amazon-alexa/