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Morgan Freeman To Voice Mark Zuckerberg's Jarvis (usatoday.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the voice-from-above dept.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently demoed his homemade artificial intelligence assistant Jarvis for Fast Company, and while their report didn't mention anything specific about the assistant's synthesized voice at the time, we have now learned that Morgan Freeman will be the voice behind Jarvis. Robert Downey Jr. originally volunteered to be the new voice of Jarvis under certain conditions, but Zuckerberg decided to let the public weigh in on Facebook. With more than 50,000 comments, Morgan Freeman emerged victorious. USA Today reports: Zuckerberg told Fast Company he called Freeman and said: "Hey, I posted this thing, and...thousands of people want you to be the voice. Will you do it?" Freeman told Zuckerberg: "Yeah, sure." Of course, Freeman has other starring voice roles in the tech world. He's one of the celebrity voices on Google's navigation app Waze. Facebook has not disclosed whether Freeman is getting paid, according to Fast Company.

93 comments

  1. Titty sprinkles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That is all.

    1. Re:Titty sprinkles by negRo_slim · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I'd rather read this AC's nonsense than a shitty ad for a shitty company's shitty product on /.

      Who let this garbage through?

      --
      On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
    2. Re:Titty sprinkles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tru dat brudda!

    3. Re:Titty sprinkles by Mal-2 · · Score: 1

      Titty Sprinkles explained.

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
    4. Re:Titty sprinkles by No+Longer+an+AC · · Score: 1

      No, I still don't think that explains it.

      He's a good narrator and actor, but I do not understand the titty sprinkles reference.

  2. Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Nottin' sais Rich Asshole like hiring James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman to record your answering machine...

    1. Re:Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And slashdot's readership has gone downhill too: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/slashdot.org

      Dumb move new slashdot owners sacking the good editors to bring in your own who post so much shit and dribble.

    2. Re:Wow... by ZeRu · · Score: 1

      Slashdot turned into a mess ever since CmdrTaco left it.

      --
      If you post as an AC, don't expect me to spend a mod point on you.
    3. Re:Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing says WTF Mark like making sure your slave servant is voiced by a black guy.

    4. Re:Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i have an erection

    5. Re:Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As opposed to hiring what? Another white person? RACIST!!

    6. Re:Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      James Earl Jones I could understand because he has a really cool voice, but Morgan Freeman? He sounds like generic old black man #3.

    7. Re:Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      gone way downhill.

      I blame the lameness filter for how far we've fallen from the golden days of g*aa and penisbird ascii art.

  3. Samuel L. Jackson by DrNico · · Score: 5, Funny

    would have been a more fun choice. When Samuel L. Jackson says it's time to go to bed, you go to bed.

    1. Re:Samuel L. Jackson by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, you could have it start a conversation with Siri -

      "English motherfucker, do you speak it?"

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:Samuel L. Jackson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No. People would be motherfucking tired of motherfucking Jarvis in no motherfucking time.

    3. Re:Samuel L. Jackson by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I don't know if any of you are basketball fans, but I want my personal digital assistant to be voiced by Timberwolves (and former Bulls) coach Tom Thibodeau. If you've ever heard him speak, you know why.

      https://youtu.be/IK6MsBDCUkg

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:Samuel L. Jackson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe some DMX, although I am not a big fan of his musically. I would love a home automation device that chimes in periodically with "It's overcast with a chance of motherfuckin rain bitch!"

    5. Re:Samuel L. Jackson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it would be more fun to have Eric Cartman voice it. Respect My Authority, biatch. But Morgan Freeman' s voice is what Zuckerberg would go for, of course he wants to think that he can have voice of god as his Butler.

      For the voice of god I find Gorge Burns more convincing seeing as he is already in Heaven.

    6. Re:Samuel L. Jackson by r_nux · · Score: 1

      "Say 'what' again!! I dare you, I double dare you!!"

    7. Re:Samuel L. Jackson by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I think he's referring to Go the fuck to sleep as read by Samuel L Jackson.

    8. Re:Samuel L. Jackson by Evtim · · Score: 1

      James Earl Jones - "I find your lack of fate disturbing!"

      I wonder, though why not a female voice? I think it is an established fact that both genders listen more carefully to female voices and they are also easier to be heard...

    9. Re:Samuel L. Jackson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it is an established fact that both genders listen more carefully to female voices and they are also easier to be heard...

      What you think is an established fact, would require something establishing it as a fact besides you just saying it to someone else.

  4. Err, yeah, we know by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    Anyone who (yeah, I know) read the previous article would know this already. Way to up the story count, I guess...

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  5. Shut up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And take my money.

  6. Maybe not the best choice by bestweasel · · Score: 1

    You want me to turn the lights on, motherfucker? Turn your own goddamn lights on.

  7. Free advertising by Atmchicago · · Score: 1

    Is this really news, or is USA Today just promoting Facebook for free?

    --

    You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it dissolve.

    1. Re:Free advertising by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      Is this really news, or is USA Today just promoting Facebook for free?

      I don't think USA Today is a newspaper that really recognizes the difference between actual news and product placement anyway.

    2. Re:Free advertising by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      I don't think USA Today is a newspaper that really recognizes the difference between actual news and product placement anyway.

      Nowadays, I don't think any big newspaper really recognizes the difference between actual news and product placement anyway...

  8. Important by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This is super key for Facebook, which brings the spy capabilities on part with Amazon, Google, MS and Apple's desire to extend from listening to everything you do online, to everything you say and do within your own home. Once something is listening 100% of the time for a voice command, it can listen to anything else so long as there's a way to do it in concealed ways.

  9. Why not get Paul Bettany? by Rakarra · · Score: 4, Informative

    Much cheaper than Morgan Freeman or Robert Downey Jr, and he's a good Jarvis in the Iron Man movies.
    Or just as well, hire Stephen Fry, then you could have the voice of Jeeves.

    1. Re:Why not get Paul Bettany? by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Gilbert Gottrfried FTW.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    2. Re:Why not get Paul Bettany? by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 2

      Or just as well, hire Stephen Fry, then you could have the voice of Jeeves.

      If we're going to go English, my personal choice would have been Brian Sewell -- unfortunately he died last year (and he'd never be caught dead OR alive doing such a thing). If you don't know him, watch a YouTube video or two. The guy came across as the most pretentious ass -- excuse me, arse -- in all of the UK (though I often found him to be unintentionally hilarious to listen to), and he was widely known as the only person in Britain with a more posh accent than the Royal Family.

      But his posh accent and condescending tone would be absolutely hilarious in something like this.

    3. Re:Why not get Paul Bettany? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gilbert Gottrfried FTW.

      This gets my vote!

    4. Re:Why not get Paul Bettany? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Douglas Rain, the voice of the HAL9000, is still alive. He's 88 but maybe his voice is good enough for capture.

      Modern computer speech synthesis uses snippets of recorded human speech. An actor performs all the various sounds that make up human speech and the computer stitches them together into arbitrary words, adjusting pitch and speed to add intonation. It might even be possible to get enough data from his work in the 1960s.

      Imagine being able to say "open the porch screen door, HAL" and then the door... Oh, wait.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:Why not get Paul Bettany? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      If we're going to go English, my personal choice would have been Brian Sewell

      If you're going for an English Brian, then clearly the only CHOICE IS BRIAN BLESSED.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    6. Re:Why not get Paul Bettany? by dywolf · · Score: 1

      that would truly make the world of I have no mouth and I must scream even worse.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    7. Re:Why not get Paul Bettany? by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      I'd vote for Peter Jones if he were alive.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  10. Obligatory XKCD by ClickOnThis · · Score: 3, Funny

    https://xkcd.com/462/

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    1. Re:Obligatory XKCD by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

      titty sprinkles

      --
      Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    2. Re:Obligatory XKCD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Morgan Freeman should have run for president.

      He would have won.

    3. Re: Obligatory XKCD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah man! I would totally vote for him!

  11. Kind of disappointing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...reading the comments on a /. story, expecting to encounter insight and interesting points-of-view but, instead, it is just juvenile and stupid racist bullshit.

    1. Re:Kind of disappointing... by negRo_slim · · Score: 1

      Because this isn't a /. story. It's basically entertainment news, no one wants that here.

      --
      On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
    2. Re:Kind of disappointing... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Because this isn't a /. story. It's basically entertainment news, no one wants that here.

      A.I. plus Morgan Freeman? That belongs here.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    3. Re:Kind of disappointing... by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2

      Both this story and the last story are completely devoid of technical details. The only thing this story adds is that Morgan Freeman is going to voice it.

    4. Re:Kind of disappointing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...expecting to encounter insight and interesting points-of-view...

      Then why the heck are you reading slashdot?

    5. Re:Kind of disappointing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > A.I. plus Morgan Freeman? That belongs here.

      Only because it's a jump the shark moment for Slashdot and Zuckerberg.

  12. One big issue with this by wjcofkc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I nearly sat through the whole promo video, here is an abridged paraphrase:

    "I personally created this AI as a project to..."

    "I wrote this app to control it..."

    Look, I get it, he has his once a year project, but I refuse to believe he wrote the whole AI and the software to interact with it by himself. Yet, if you watch the video that is exactly what he says. If he can do that - all by himself as he states - in order to run a company and develop an advanced AI, he must be doing some kind of super-meth that does not leave you all ate up. I get the feeling there are some engineers at Facebook that face palmed over that. Credit needs to be given where it is due.

    Past that, as much as I appreciate the likes of Alexa and Google Now (Cortana catching up?), Facebook is the last company I am going to give that kind of access to. I took the plunge and deleted my Facebook account years ago. Facebook is dehumanizing, and with it's mass that is a dangerous thing.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
    1. Re:One big issue with this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He says AI, I say bullshit.

      It's probably just X10 with voice commands cobbled together with iTunes Suggestions and some facial recognition software so it can identify his friends at the door.

      Nothing he's doing actually needs AI.

    2. Re:One big issue with this by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

      Repeat after me: Alexa, Google Now, Cortana and Zuckerbergs thing ARE NOT AI. Not even close.

    3. Re:One big issue with this by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      If he can do that - all by himself as he states - in order to run a company and develop an advanced AI, he must be doing some kind of super-meth [...]

      How does he do it? He takes speed.

    4. Re:One big issue with this by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

      He did not write the "AI" component (I use the term generously), nor the voice / face recognition software, nor the part that interacts with the home automation devices. These already existed. Zuckerberg's work was primarily an integration effort, combining more or less off-the-shelf stuff. It's a cool project but it's hardly groundbreaking; many home automation enthusiasts have built similar and better systems, and in less time (though they probably had a somewhat less demanding day job...)

      With that said, I think it's commendable to get some hands-on experience if you're going to get closely involved in the development of such a product in your company. But let's not make it any more than it is: an interesting hobby project. And I agree: I'm not going to let any company have access to a bunch of open mikes around my home.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    5. Re:One big issue with this by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      ARE NOT AI

      Define: AI.

      AI, n. Something you don't have.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    6. Re: One big issue with this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are things in the past that we would have called AI but aren't now. There will be things in the future that we might call AI but won't in the more distant future.
       
        AI is a moving target.
       
          It's no secret that Facebook's datacenters, let alone any client side software, do not have access to nearly as many electronic connections as a single human brain. The amount of overall processing Facebook can do in a second (whether linearly or as multiprocessing) doesn't rival your own brain. The hardware isn't there yet.
       
        It's not called AI for the purpose of comparison to literal human ability, but because it uses the techniques that researchers are using to get (slowly) towards human ability. No one said they're more than a fraction of the way there yet.
       
      source: I was a postgraduate computer science student majoring in AI

    7. Re: One big issue with this by blibbo · · Score: 1

      I seem to have posted anonymously by mistake.

  13. yay SJW! by vel-ex-tech · · Score: 2

    So, trying to break from the misogynist mold, the newest AI is finally something like the butler I wanted. EXCEPT IT'S A HYPHENATED-AMERICAN!!!

    So great, I can either FEEL GUILTY of male privilege with Alexa, Siri, etc or now I can FEEL GUILTY of white privilege with Jarvis.

    Or infringement on Marvel's copyright.

    One or the other two.

    1. Re:yay SJW! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, trying to break from the misogynist mold, the newest AI is finally something like the butler I wanted. EXCEPT IT'S A HYPHENATED-AMERICAN!!!

      Or, you know, God.

    2. Re: yay SJW! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're clearly not doing white male privilege properly. The correct way to be a white male is to simply ignore women, minorities and transexuals unless you need a blowjob, a caddy, or a punching bag. Feel better now?

    3. Re:yay SJW! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck are you even on about? Do you have to drag "SJW" into every conversation about everything? Do you realize how much more annoying you people are than the small handful of over-the-top feminists you never shut up about?

    4. Re:yay SJW! by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      uh...?

      [backs away slowly]

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    5. Re:yay SJW! by Talderas · · Score: 1

      There's something appealing to bossing around The Boss.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
  14. Facebook has not disclosed whether Freeman is .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    getting paid.
    They negotiated free Facebook for Life... ;)

  15. There should be a real choice by Trachman · · Score: 1

    I love the idea of Morgan Freeman being an option for the voice.

    I would love to have an option of having Alex Jones being a voice of AI. That would be fun.... He used to be (still is) one of the highest paid voice over actors.

  16. interesting hack by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Shout "Hey Siri" in a room of techies or young people and see a third of their phones answer back. I've seen this done.

  17. How big is the spoken phrase database? by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Does anyone know how many words or phrases you have record for a personal assistant?

    1. Re:How big is the spoken phrase database? by DulcetTone · · Score: 1

      Most such things these days use text-to-speech exclusively, or in concert with concatenative speech prompts.

      When using speech prompts, the numbers get large, fast, and your conversational design acquires a strong tie to recordings which are hard to obtain in uniform quality in a reliable manner. What happens when a bus runs over your voice talent?

      The Wildfire Assistant circa 1997 used 1200 voice prompts just to say North American phone numbers (1000 three digit sequences with an uplilt melody at the end (AAA), 100 two digit pairs with an uplilt (BB) and 100 two digit pairs with a downlilt (CC)). The output was perfection, as this is exactly how people say these: AAA AAA BB CC

      --
      tone
    2. Re:How big is the spoken phrase database? by godrik · · Score: 1

      But to make text to speech sounds like someone, you certainly still need a sample of voice and intonation. Certainly it is machine learned and reconstructed afterward. But you probably need a training sample, isn't it?
      How big would that be ?

    3. Re: How big is the spoken phrase database? by DulcetTone · · Score: 1

      They seem to be getting quite small. Adobe (ugh) recently demonstrated a "Photoshop for voice" which appeared to take a modest voice recording, transcribe it, and allow you to edit the text to get a new recording of the speaker saying what you'd typed.

      --
      tone
  18. Really? by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

    I'd get one if it'd have the GladOS voice but only if it also comes with the no-so-subtle sarcasm.

  19. old trek by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Majel Barret anyone?

  20. Femputer by snookiex · · Score: 1

    If Jarvis were a female, I'd nominate Lucy Lawless to voice her. If the darn thing went crazy you'd know it's for real.

    --
    Open Source Network Inventory for the masses! Kuwaiba
  21. Slavery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most of the people who voted for this probably just wanted a black voice for their digital servant. Sad!

  22. When is this ready for regular people? by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    Nice toy, but when will this kind of thing (and at the same scale) be ready for the Rest of Us?

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  23. Again how is this AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Especially if it only takes direct commands, and the only way it "learns" is by you directly giving it relationships?

  24. In that case... by drfreak · · Score: 1

    Does Jarvis get a new freckle every time he explains something to the Zuck family?

  25. Misread Zuckerberg as Zoidberg at first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was very disappointed when I realized my mistake.

  26. Obligatory Ted 2 quote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I want to sleep on a bed made of your voice."

  27. no no no no no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hire Paul Bettany to do Jarvis. come on, dont wimp out on us.

  28. I want my AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    to answer to "Hey, asshole" and have my own voice.
    I don't want it to be some cloud data base that collects more data than it provides.
    I want it to have real intelligence and not just some list of phrases it answers to.
    I want it to understand all languages and not just some localized dialect of the region it is sold at.

  29. Too Bad Majel Barrett Is No Longer With Us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The iconic female voice of the LCARS system would have been just perfect. Of course, there are many hours of her voice recorded in a wide range of phonetics and vocabulary so it should be possible to create an adequate facsimile of her voice. I like Morgan Freeman on documentary films, but for day to day use of a computer system, Majel Barret would be my first choice.

  30. Racist! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A black guy as your servant? How long before the snowflakes finds that racist. :D

  31. Rolodex by thisisauniqueid · · Score: 1

    Oh yeah, I call Morgan Freeman all the time, too.

  32. My answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My answer would have been ''Fuck off, horse face''. But I'm not Morgan Freeman, I'm the other one.

  33. RIP Gary Owens (Space Quest, Space Ghost) by dottrap · · Score: 1

    Damn it!
    "The man with the golden pipes", Gary Owens passed away last year. He is best known for Laugh-In, Space Ghost, and the Space Quest narrator.

    If he just lasted a little longer, his voice could have been preserved forever with this kind of technology.

    And a product that gives snarky, sarcastic, yet funny responses in an awesome sounding voice would be fun.

    User: "What is the weather like today?"
    Gary Owens response: "The air smells damp and oppressive, like a wet nun."

    RIP Gary Owens

    ====
    A Tribute to Gary Owens
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Funny Radio Liners By Gary Owens - Comedy Commercials
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Ways to die Space Quest 4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Memorable Moments and Lines from Space Quest 4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Memorable Moments and Lines from Space Quest 6
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    1. Re:RIP Gary Owens (Space Quest, Space Ghost) by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      Doctor Orpheus. "What's the weather forecast?" "The weather will beeeeeee....SUUUuuUUUuuUUUUuUUUNnNNNNnnNNNnnNYYYyYYYYYYYYyyyYYYY!"

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  34. a black man as a servant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, what a surprise. How little things have changed in 200+ years.