Algorithmic Ventriloquism
The Contested State of Voice in AI Speech Generators
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2414734 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ido Ramati (0000-0002-5364-2969, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Media + Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2056-3051 • E-ISSN: 2056-3051 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/20563051231224401 |
| OpenAlex | W4390703043 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 34 |
This article explores the vocal human-machine relations embedded in text-to-speech (TTS) generators. Retracing the human sources behind the synthetic speech and tracking the remediation of the voice by the machine-learning algorithm, it argues that artificial intelligence (AI) speaking agents such as Siri and Alexa, as well as other TTS acts such as TikTok's, are performing algorithmic ventriloquism. Speaking mechanically with the voices of professional voiceover artists, AI speech technologies algorithmically manipulate these voices, thus generating personas that hold an interconnected chain of tensions between the embodied and the virtual, the particular and the general, the human and the non-human, as well as between speech and writing. Algorithmic ventriloquism serves as an analytical framework to tie the techno-vocalic operation of the TTS system with its cultural, economic, philosophical, and sociolinguistic predicaments. The last section discusses the implications of algorithmic ventriloquism beyond the realm of the voice
Embodied cognition · Human voice · Realm · Speech recognition · Speech synthesis · Computer Science · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Digital Media and Philosophy · History · Artificial Intelligence
Dumbstruck
A Voice and Nothing More
Listening and Voice
For More than One Voice
Sound Unseen
Machine Learners
Action and Agency in Dialogue
Notes from the Desk Set
What Is Digital Labour? What Is Digital Work? What’s their Difference? And Why Do These Questions Matter for Understanding Social Media
Breaching bodily boundaries
Preparing for smart voice assistants
Digital ventriloquism and celebrity access
Use this sound
Biometric imaginaries
Reclaiming the human in machine cultures
Moving Lips
Deceitful Media
Acoustic Territories
Asking more of Siri and Alexa
Thinking with an Accent
Ground truth tracings (GTT)
How the machine 'thinks
Vocal Features
Deaf Jam
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |