With the first iOS 17 beta, Apple has introduced a new accessibility feature called Personal Voice. First highlighted earlier this year, Personal Voice is designed to allow you to use artificial intelligence to create a replica of your voice.
The feature is aimed at those who are at risk of losing their ability to speak, with Personal Voice offering these individuals the chance to "create a voice that sounds like them" for communication purposes.
Personal Voice is available in the initial iOS 17 beta, so developers can begin testing it right away. It can be found under Accessibility > Personal Voice. Creating a Personal Voice is process that takes around an hour. Recording requires a quiet place with little to no background noise, with Apple instructing users to speak naturally at a consistent volume while holding the iPhone approximately six inches from the face.
If there is too much background noise in your location, Apple will warn you that you need to find a quieter place to record.
Personal Voice requires you to read a series of sentences aloud, after which your iPhone will generate and store your Personal Voice. The Personal Voice can then be used with the Live Speech feature, which allows users to type-to-speak in FaceTime, the Phone app, and other communication apps.
Personal Voice will be available to the general public when Apple releases the first public beta of iOS 17. Apple has said that iOS 17 will be available to public beta testers next month.
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sorry for anyone willing to goof on this, let me share a story-
my mother suffered from dysphonia for multiple decades. up until I was about 14 or 15, I hadn’t heard what her real voice sounded like, then she got botox injected into her vocal cords (which absolutely terrified me, lmao)—the result was life-changing.
she then passed just before I turned 17.
I would give literally anything for this feature to have existed in her time. my recordings of her voice are scant—those with her true voice, nonexistent. if I could have had a model of her voice created, just to hear her say “I love you” one more time…
no, I’m not looking for sympathy. I’m telling this story to point out how incredible of a feature this is. someone’s voice is something you only remember for so long after they’re gone, unless it’s particularly distinct. had this been around, I could possibly still have an iPhone with her voice model to this day.
my 89yo grandmother is certainly not at risk of losing her voice any time soon, but I will be sitting her down to do this when iOS 17 comes out. this is an incredible step forward, and I continue to laud Apple for their strides in health-related issues.
Technology isn’t evil. Only the people who use it. And whilst this piece of technology is going to be put to some incredibly good and positive uses, it sure as hell is going to be put to some evil ones, too, sadly.
