Can AI accurately simulate a human?

Published: Aug. 14, 2024, 10:04 a.m.

\n

Generative artificial intelligence has made it possible to mimic someone’s voice and generate a script for that voice in real time. The tech, of course, is already used to scam and defraud people, but what if you just had it make a bunch of calls on your behalf? That’s what journalist Evan Ratliff did for his new podcast, “Shell Game.” He trained AI audio clones, gave them phone numbers and sat back as they took on customer service agents, family members, therapists and even a few scammers. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Ratliff \u2014 and briefly with one of his AI agents \u2014 about his takeaways from producing the show and whether the clones succeeded in tricking people into thinking they were who they said they were.

\n