Can AI sound too human? Sesame's Maya is as unsettling as it is amazing - try it for free

ZDNET As a general rule, I'm not a huge fan of talking to AI chatbots. Even though many of them sound pretty human, they're still "off" enough that I much prefer typing when I want to converse with one. Sesame changed that. This AI sounds real In a blog post yesterday titled "Crossing the Uncanny Valley of Conversational Voice," the company dropped a demo of its new AI chatbot that lets you talk to either "Maya" or "Miles." The goal, Sesame says, is to achieve something called "voice presence" or the "magical quality that makes spoken interactions feel real, understood, and valued." After talking to Maya for a while, I think Sesame has reached that goal. Also: 3 ways Amazon just leapfrogged Apple, Google, and ChatGPT in the AI race As my conversation began, Maya immediately insisted that she was there to be my friend. That was a little forward and a little unnerving, but I guess it's better than insisting that she wasn't my friend. Maya asked what was on my mind. I was honest an ... Read full article.