## Colophon tags:: url:: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ais-and-robots-should-sound-robotic.html date:: [[]] %% title:: AIs and Robots Should Sound Robotic - Schneier on Security type:: [[clipped-note]] author:: [[@schneier.com]] %% ## Notes <p> </p>> But there is something fundamentally different about talking with a bot as opposed to a person. A person can be a friend. An AI cannot be a friend, despite how people might treat it or react to it. AI is at best a tool, and at worst a means of manipulation. Humans need to know whether we’re talking with a living, breathing person or a robot with an agenda set by the person who controls it. That’s why robots should sound like robots. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/6XRc2Od6Ee-T3QeXJz4hOg/www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ais-and-robots-should-sound-robotic.html) Yes<p> </p>> We have a simple proposal: all talking AIs and robots should use a ring modulator. In the mid-twentieth century, before it was easy to create actual robotic-sounding speech synthetically, ring modulators were used to make actors’ voices sound robotic. Over the last few decades, we have become accustomed to robotic voices, simply because text-to-speech systems were good enough to produce intelligible speech that was not human-like in its sound. Now we can use that same technology to make robotic speech that is indistinguishable from human sound robotic again. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/7NUmAOd6Ee-7ThMBMPf5Wg/www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ais-and-robots-should-sound-robotic.html) <p> </p>> Responsible AI companies that provide voice synthesis or AI voice assistants in any form should add a ring modulator of some standard frequency (say, between 30-80 Hz) and of a minimum amplitude (say, 20 percent). That’s it. People will catch on quickly. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/8UqgcOd6Ee-pFQd0wYm9hg/www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ais-and-robots-should-sound-robotic.html) \n> We don’t expect scammers to follow our proposal: They’ll find a way no matter what. But that’s always true of security standards, and a rising tide lifts all boats. We think the bulk of the uses will be with popular voice APIs from major companies—and everyone should know that they’re talking with a robot. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/9dX7Tud6Ee-Xm5chjbqJWQ/www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ais-and-robots-should-sound-robotic.html) > But there is something fundamentally different about talking with a bot as opposed to a person. A person can be a friend. An AI cannot be a friend, despite how people might treat it or react to it. AI is at best a tool, and at worst a means of manipulation. Humans need to know whether we’re talking with a living, breathing person or a robot with an agenda set by the person who controls it. That’s why robots should sound like robots. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/6XRc2Od6Ee-T3QeXJz4hOg/www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ais-and-robots-should-sound-robotic.html) - Annotation: Yes> We have a simple proposal: all talking AIs and robots should use a ring modulator. In the mid-twentieth century, before it was easy to create actual robotic-sounding speech synthetically, ring modulators were used to make actors’ voices sound robotic. Over the last few decades, we have become accustomed to robotic voices, simply because text-to-speech systems were good enough to produce intelligible speech that was not human-like in its sound. Now we can use that same technology to make robotic speech that is indistinguishable from human sound robotic again. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/7NUmAOd6Ee-7ThMBMPf5Wg/www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ais-and-robots-should-sound-robotic.html) > Responsible AI companies that provide voice synthesis or AI voice assistants in any form should add a ring modulator of some standard frequency (say, between 30-80 Hz) and of a minimum amplitude (say, 20 percent). That’s it. People will catch on quickly. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/8UqgcOd6Ee-pFQd0wYm9hg/www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ais-and-robots-should-sound-robotic.html) > We don’t expect scammers to follow our proposal: They’ll find a way no matter what. But that’s always true of security standards, and a rising tide lifts all boats. We think the bulk of the uses will be with popular voice APIs from major companies—and everyone should know that they’re talking with a robot. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/9dX7Tud6Ee-Xm5chjbqJWQ/www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ais-and-robots-should-sound-robotic.html)