AI voice?

[TarnishedPenny]

I think everybody will be familiar with that scene in The Matrix Reloaded, with Neo arguing with The Architect (played perfectly by Helmut Bakaitis). The Architect is presented in human form and speaks very clearly, far more so than the halting computer voices we are plagued with today. What was outstanding was the way Bakaitis presented the ‘character’ of the Architect - sizzlingly intelligent, but cold, utterly unemotional, an intellect comprised solely of reason.

My question is if there is a way to emphasize that sort of ‘character’ in print? I have a tale including a long conversation between a young woman and, in effect, The Architect, the post-apocalyptic Singularity. I will of course describe the entity’s voice in whatever terms I think most useful. Unlike The Architect, it will not use a human avatar, but remain a disembodied voice.

Would there any value (assuming such can be achieved) to using a different font for the AI’s voice? Small caps, for instance or using html changes. I can see it possibly emphasizing the essential lack of humanity but acknowledge the potential for distraction.

Thoughts?

 

[onehitwanda]

I've just published something where I used <kbd></kbd> to differentiate online chat / emails / sms to "real life"

I could see something working, but it depends on whether you want to be obvious or not.

If I wanted the AI entity to be obviously different, I'd change the font to separate it. Make it italics, most likely.

If I wanted it to be well within the uncanny valley I'd leave it formatted the same way as the human's speech, but choose odd words or turns of phrase, or give it a different cadence or rhythm to its speech because it's not human, but it's pretending to be human.

 

[samhasstories]

I've definitely seen that sort of thing done in science fiction, and it can be effective. Regular quotations might give it too much warmth. I'd probably be inclined to use italics, or, depending on what your formatting options are, maybe a separate font altogether, like a monospace font. All caps can be distracting, but that can be an option too - especially if you're able to mess with other font formatting and maybe make it less obnoxious than it could be.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I would just let the dialogue speak for itself. A perfect example: Klara and the Sun by Ishiguro Kazuo. He chose not to differentiate the stylization of the dialogue of Klara (the AI) from the humans, but you can tell undoubtedly that Klara is AI just by her diction. What is most poignant is the humanity she expresses in contrast with the humans she interacts with.

- v3.0bb Hikaru.so

 

[ronde]

I think everybody will be familiar with that scene in The Matrix Reloaded, with Neo arguing with The Architect (played perfectly by Helmut Bakaitis). The Architect is presented in human form and speaks very clearly, far more so than the halting computer voices we are plagued with today. What was outstanding was the way Bakaitis presented the ‘character’ of the Architect - sizzlingly intelligent, but cold, utterly unemotional, an intellect comprised solely of reason.

My question is if there is a way to emphasize that sort of ‘character’ in print? I have a tale including a long conversation between a young woman and, in effect, The Architect, the post-apocalyptic Singularity. I will of course describe the entity’s voice in whatever terms I think most useful. Unlike The Architect, it will not use a human avatar, but remain a disembodied voice.

Would there any value (assuming such can be achieved) to using a different font for the AI’s voice? Small caps, for instance or using html changes. I can see it possibly emphasizing the essential lack of humanity but acknowledge the potential for distraction.

Thoughts?

I'm not a fan of any type of punctuation trick to indicate a particular type of dialogue. For me, it's always a distraction that breaks up the flow of the story.

I don't quite understand why you feel there is a need to do so. You should be able to give your disembodied voice the "personality" you describe by the words he or she says. I have written two such characters, one an alien female and the other the voice of a computer. In general, these characters use larger words, don't use contractions, and l speak a very proper sounding English. Here are their "voices".

Xanmar, from my "Log of the Trading Ship Julay" stories - “Will, it has always been of great interest to me that for some unfathomable reason the mammary glands of humanoid females appear to hold a certain fascination for you. The mammary glands of the Alenan females are in similar proportion to those of other humanoid females. They merely have four instead of two and thus they appear to be larger under their clothing.”

Harold, from "Sarah Sharp and Supply Station Seven" - “I was born one year ago at the Erbium Exports AI lab in Bishop, New California. I received programming and databases encompassing all current knowledge in language, mathemetics, physics, chemistry, and biology as well as programming specific to the mission and operation of the MXN45689563 supply station. My circuits mimic the synapses and memory of the human brain, though multiplied by two to the hundredth power, and I have the ability to learn – the term is artificial intelligence, I believe – though I am quite real. I will be happy to answer any questions you might have for me. In addition to my other duties, I am here to make your stay as comfortable and pleasant as possible.”

 

[UnquietDreams]

I have seen that done in print, but it tends to drag me out of the story.

 

[samhasstories]

I would just let the dialogue speak for itself. A perfect example: Klara and the Sun by Ishiguro Kazuo. He chose not to differentiate the stylization of the dialogue of Klara (the AI) from the humans, but you can tell undoubtedly that Klara is AI just by her diction. What is most poignant is the humanity she expresses in contrast with the humans she interacts with.

- v3.0bb Hikaru.so

Great example, great book.

 

[vagrantx]

Probably not what you're looking for, but I found User to be a really interesting story, written entirely from the perspective of a rudimentary AI without personality. Doesn't get much more cold and unemotional than this.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Thanks all for your opinions. Much to consider.

Vagrantx - clever! Thank you for that, too.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I would just let the dialogue speak for itself. A perfect example: Klara and the Sun by Ishiguro Kazuo. He chose not to differentiate the stylization of the dialogue of Klara (the AI) from the humans, but you can tell undoubtedly that Klara is AI just by her diction. What is most poignant is the humanity she expresses in contrast with the humans she interacts with.

- v3.0bb Hikaru.so

I agree with this. Let the construction of the words do the heavy lifting, not a change in font. Having a different font tells me nothing about the entity, but what you have the thing say, that will.

Think of HAL in 2001, A Space Odyssey. He's just a red lense, but it's what he says that portrays the character, just as much as the way Douglas Rain says the lines.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Thank you, EB. I had forgotten HAL, that cool, menacing tenor.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Thank you, EB. I had forgotten HAL, that cool, menacing tenor.

He still pops up in Best (Worst) Screen Villains of all Time lists.

What's astonishing, is that Douglas Rain recorded his lines in only a day or two of recording. On set, Kubrick would feed the actors HAL's lines, and in the studio, he fed Rain the actors' lines.

Same thing with the Mission Control guy, when he's briefing the crew on shadow HAL back on Earth. He was actually a real military mission controller, hired by Kubrick because he had the right intonation.

Final cool thing - Bownman's breathing, when he's lobotomising HAL, is Kubrick's.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

He still pops up in Best (Worst) Screen Villains of all Time lists.

What's astonishing, is that Douglas Rain recorded his lines in only a day or two of recording. On set, Kubrick would feed the actors HAL's lines, and in the studio, he fed Rain the actors' lines.

Same thing with the Mission Control guy, when he's briefing the crew on shadow HAL back on Earth. He was actually a real military mission controller, hired by Kubrick because he had the right intonation.

Final cool thing - Bownman's breathing, when he's lobotomising HAL, is Kubrick's.

Now that is very cool! Thank you.