The next time you try for a high-ranking post,you could let your possible boss listen to a recommending (推荐)phone call“made”by US President George W.Bush or British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Of course,neither of them could really do that for you—you would just“borrow”their voices. AT & T labs will start selling speech software that it says is so good at reproducing the sounds of a human voice that it can recreate voices and even bring the voices of long-dead famous people back to life.
The software,which turns printed text into speech,makes it possible for a company to use recordings of a person's voice to say things that the person never actually said.
Possible customers for the software,which is priced in the thousands of dollars,includes telephone call centers,companies that make software that reads digital(数字的)files aloud,and makers of automated voice devices(装置).The advances raise several problems. Who,for example,owns the rights to a famous person’s voice? Some experts even believe that new contracts(合同)will be drawn that include voice-licensing clauses.
And although scientists say the technology is not yet good enough to commit fraud(假冒),would the synthesized(合成的)voices at last be able to trick people into thinking that they were getting phone calls or digital audio recordings from people they know?
Even Mr.Fruchterman,one of AT & T labs' possible first customers,said he wondered what the new technology might bring.“Just like you can’t trust photograph any more.”he said,“you won’t be able to trust a voice either.
3. If the speech software were widely used,______.
Apeople would no longer believe each other
Bit would not be necessary to go for a speech by a famous person
Cno radio or TV broadcasters would be needed
Drecording of a voice alone would not be taken as a proof in the court