View source for 15.ai

{{Short description|Real-time text-to-speech tool using artificial intelligence}}
{{Infobox website
| name = 15.ai
| logo = File:15 ai logo transparent.png
| screenshot = 
| caption = 
| founder = 15
| commercial = No
| registration = None
| launch_date = '''Initial release''': {{start date and age|2020|03}}<br/>'''Stable release''': v24.2.1 / {{start date and age|2021|09}}
| current_status = Under maintenance
| type = [[Artificial intelligence]], [[Speech synthesis|speech synthesis]], [[Machine learning|machine learning]], [[Deep learning|deep learning]]
| website = {{URL|https://15.ai}}
| language = English
}}
{{Artificial intelligence}}
'''15.ai''' is a [[Finance:Non-commercial|non-commercial]] [[Freeware|freeware]] [[Artificial intelligence|artificial intelligence]] [[Web application|web application]] that generates natural emotive high-fidelity{{efn|The phrase "high-fidelity" in TTS research is often used to describe [[Vocoder|vocoder]]s that are able to reconstruct waveforms with very little distortion, and is not simply synonymous with "high quality." See the papers for HiFi-GAN,<ref>{{cite arXiv |last=Kong |first=Jungil|eprint=2010.05646v2 |title=HiFi-GAN: Generative Adversarial Networks for Efficient and High Fidelity Speech Synthesis|class=cs |date=2020 }}</ref> GAN-TTS,<ref>{{cite arXiv |last=Binkowski |first=Mikołaj|eprint=1909.11646v2 |title=High Fidelity Speech Synthesis with Adversarial Networks|class=cs |date=2019 }}</ref> and parallel [[WaveNet]]<ref name="deepmind"/> for unbiased examples of this usage of terminology.}} text-to-speech voices from an assortment of fictional characters from a variety of media sources.<ref name="kotaku">{{cite web
 |url= https://kotaku.com/this-website-lets-you-make-glados-say-whatever-you-want-1846062835
 |title= Website Lets You Make GLaDOS Say Whatever You Want
 |last= Zwiezen
 |first= Zack
 |date= 2021-01-18
 |website= Kotaku
 |publisher= Kotaku
 |access-date= 2021-01-18
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2021-01-17
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210117164748/https://kotaku.com/this-website-lets-you-make-glados-say-whatever-you-want-1846062835
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="gameinformer">{{cite magazine
 |url= https://www.gameinformer.com/gamer-culture/2021/01/18/make-portals-glados-and-other-beloved-characters-say-the-weirdest-things
 |title= Make Portal's GLaDOS And Other Beloved Characters Say The Weirdest Things With This App
 |last= Ruppert
 |first= Liana
 |date= 2021-01-18
 |magazine= Game Informer
 |publisher= Game Informer
 |access-date= 2021-01-18
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2021-01-18
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210118175543/https://www.gameinformer.com/gamer-culture/2021/01/18/make-portals-glados-and-other-beloved-characters-say-the-weirdest-things
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="pcgamer">{{cite web
 |url= https://www.pcgamer.com/make-the-cast-of-tf2-recite-old-memes-with-this-ai-text-to-speech-tool
 |title= Make the cast of TF2 recite old memes with this AI text-to-speech tool
 |last= Clayton
 |first= Natalie
 |date= 2021-01-19
 |website= PC Gamer
 |publisher= PC Gamer
 |access-date= 2021-01-19
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2021-01-19
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210119133726/https://www.pcgamer.com/make-the-cast-of-tf2-recite-old-memes-with-this-ai-text-to-speech-tool/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="rockpapershotgun">{{cite web
 |url= https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2021/01/18/put-words-in-game-characters-mouths-with-this-fascinating-text-to-speech-tool/
 |title= Put words in game characters' mouths with this fascinating text to speech tool
 |last= Morton
 |first= Lauren
 |date= 2021-01-18
 |website= Rock, Paper, Shotgun
 |publisher= Rock, Paper, Shotgun
 |access-date= 2021-01-18
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2021-01-18
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210118213308/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2021/01/18/put-words-in-game-characters-mouths-with-this-fascinating-text-to-speech-tool/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref> Developed by a [[Pseudonym|pseudonymous]] MIT researcher under the name '''15''', the project uses a combination of audio synthesis algorithms, [[Speech synthesis|speech synthesis]] deep neural networks, and [[Sentiment analysis|sentiment analysis]] models to generate and serve emotive character voices faster than real-time, particularly those with a very small amount of trainable data.

Launched in early 2020, 15.ai began as a [[Proof of concept|proof of concept]] of the [[Engineering:Democratization of technology|democratization]] of voice acting and dubbing using technology.<ref name="thebatch">
{{cite web |last=Ng |first=Andrew |date=2020-04-01 |title=Voice Cloning for the Masses |url=https://blog.deeplearning.ai/blog/the-batch-ai-against-coronavirus-datasets-voice-cloning-for-the-masses-finding-unexploded-bombs-seeing-see-through-objects-optimizing-training-parameters |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807111844/https://blog.deeplearning.ai/blog/the-batch-ai-against-coronavirus-datasets-voice-cloning-for-the-masses-finding-unexploded-bombs-seeing-see-through-objects-optimizing-training-parameters |archive-date=2020-08-07 |access-date=2020-04-05 |website=The Batch |publisher=The Batch |quote=}}
</ref> Its gratis and non-commercial nature (with the only stipulation being that the project be properly credited when used), ease of use, no user account registration requirement, and substantial improvements to current text-to-speech implementations have been lauded by users;<ref name="gameinformer"/><ref name="towardds">{{cite web
 |url= https://towardsdatascience.com/generate-your-favourite-characters-voice-lines-using-machine-learning-c0939270c0c6
 |title= Generate Your Favourite Characters' Voice Lines using Machine Learning
 |last= Chandraseta
 |first= Rionaldi
 |date= 2021-01-19
 |website= Towards Data Science
 |access-date= 2021-01-23
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2021-01-21
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210121132456/https://towardsdatascience.com/generate-your-favourite-characters-voice-lines-using-machine-learning-c0939270c0c6
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="kotaku" /><ref name="pcgamer" /> however, some critics and voice actors have questioned the legality and [[Philosophy:Ethics of artificial intelligence|ethicality]] of leaving such technology publicly available and readily accessible.<ref name="thebatch"/><ref name="batch"/><ref name="wccftech"/>

Credited as the impetus behind the popularization of AI [[Audio deepfake|voice cloning]] (also known as ''audio deepfakes'') in [[Social:Content creation|content creation]] and as the first publicly available AI vocal synthesis project to involve the use of existing popular fictional characters, 15.ai has had a significant impact on multiple Internet fandoms, most notably the [[Social:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom|''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'']], ''[[Software:Team Fortress 2|Team Fortress 2]]'', and ''[[Social:SpongeBob SquarePants|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' fandoms. Furthermore, 15.ai has inspired the use of [[Social:4chan|4chan]]'s '''Pony Preservation Project''' in other [[Synthetic media|generative artificial intelligence]] projects.<ref name="automaton"/><ref name="Denfaminicogamer"/>

Several commercial alternatives have spawned with the rising popularity of 15.ai, leading to cases of misattribution and theft. In January 2022, it was discovered that '''Voiceverse NFT''', a company that voice actor Troy Baker announced his partnership with, had [[Social:Plagiarism|plagiarized]] 15.ai's work as part of their platform.<ref name="nme">{{cite web
 |url= https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/voiceverse-nft-admits-to-taking-voice-lines-from-non-commercial-service-3140663
 |title= Voiceverse NFT admits to taking voice lines from non-commercial service
 |last= Williams
 |first= Demi
 |date= 2022-01-18
 |website= NME
 |publisher= NME
 |access-date= 2022-01-18
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-01-18
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220118162845/https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/voiceverse-nft-admits-to-taking-voice-lines-from-non-commercial-service-3140663
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="stevivor">{{cite web
 |url= https://stevivor.com/news/troy-baker-nft-voiceverse-15-ai/
 |title= Troy Baker-backed NFT company admits to using content without permission
 |last= Wright
 |first= Steve
 |date= 2022-01-17
 |website= Stevivor
 |access-date= 2022-01-17
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-01-17
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220117231918/https://stevivor.com/news/troy-baker-nft-voiceverse-15-ai/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="techtimes">{{cite web
 |url= https://www.techtimes.com/articles/270688/20220118/troy-bakers-partner-nft-company-voiceverse-reportedly-steals-voice-lines.htm
 |title= Troy Baker's Partner NFT Company Voiceverse Reportedly Steals Voice Lines From 15.ai
 |last= Henry
 |first= Joseph
 |date= 2022-01-18
 |website= Tech Times
 |access-date= 2022-02-14
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-01-26
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220126204741/https://www.techtimes.com/articles/270688/20220118/troy-bakers-partner-nft-company-voiceverse-reportedly-steals-voice-lines.htm
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref>

On September 8, 2022, 15.ai was temporarily taken down in preparation for an upcoming update, a year after its last stable release (v24.2.1). As of February 2024, it is still temporarily offline.<ref>{{Cite web |title=15 on Twitter: "(I probably won't open Twitter again until I finally get this up and running.)" / Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/fifteenai/status/1628834756736479238 |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=Twitter |language=en}}</ref>

== Features ==
[[File:HAL9000.svg|thumb|200px|left|HAL 9000, known for his sinister robotic voice, is one of the available characters on 15.ai.<ref name="kotaku"/>]]
Available characters include GLaDOS and Wheatley from ''Portal'', characters from ''[[Software:Team Fortress 2|Team Fortress 2]]'', Twilight Sparkle and a number of main, secondary, and supporting characters from ''[[Social:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony]]'', SpongeBob from ''[[Social:SpongeBob SquarePants|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', Daria Morgendorffer and Jane Lane from ''Daria'', the Tenth Doctor from ''Doctor Who'', HAL 9000 from ''2001: A Space Odyssey'', the Narrator from ''[[Software:The Stanley Parable|The Stanley Parable]]'', the Wii U/3DS/[[Software:Super Smash Bros. Ultimate|Switch]] [[Software:Super Smash Bros.|Super Smash Bros.]] Announcer (formerly), Carl Brutananadilewski from ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', Steven Universe from ''Steven Universe'', Dan from ''Dan Vs.'', and [[Social:Sans (Undertale)|Sans]] from ''[[Software:Undertale|Undertale]]''.<ref name="Denfaminicogamer">{{cite web
 |url= https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/news/210118f
 |title= 『Portal』のGLaDOSや『UNDERTALE』のサンズがテキストを読み上げてくれる。文章に込められた感情まで再現することを目指すサービス「15.ai」が話題に
 |last= Yoshiyuki
 |first= Furushima
 |date= 2021-01-18
 |website= Denfaminicogamer
 |access-date= 2021-01-18
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2021-01-18
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210118051321/https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/news/210118f
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="automaton">{{cite web
 |url= https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20210119-149494/
 |title= ゲームキャラ音声読み上げソフト「15.ai」公開中。『Undertale』や『Portal』のキャラに好きなセリフを言ってもらえる
 |last= Kurosawa
 |first= Yuki
 |date= 2021-01-19
 |website= AUTOMATON
 |publisher= AUTOMATON
 |access-date= 2021-01-19
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2021-01-19
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210119103031/https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20210119-149494/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="LaPS4">{{cite web
 |url= https://www.laps4.com/noticias/descubre-15-ai-un-sitio-web-en-el-que-podras-hacer-que-glados-diga-lo-que-quieras/
 |title= Descubre 15.AI, un sitio web en el que podrás hacer que GlaDOS diga lo que quieras
 |last= Villalobos
 |first= José
 |date= 2021-01-18
 |website= LaPS4
 |publisher= LaPS4
 |access-date= 2021-01-18
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2021-01-18
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210118172043/https://www.laps4.com/noticias/descubre-15-ai-un-sitio-web-en-el-que-podras-hacer-que-glados-diga-lo-que-quieras/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="yahoofin">{{cite web
 |url= https://es-us.finanzas.yahoo.com/noticias/15-ai-sitio-te-permite-152000712.html
 |title= 15.ai, el sitio que te permite usar voces de personajes populares para que digan lo que quieras
 |last= Moto
 |first= Eugenio
 |date= 2021-01-20
 |website= [[Software:Yahoo! Finance|Yahoo! Finance]]
 |publisher= [[Software:Yahoo! Finance|Yahoo! Finance]]
 |access-date= 2021-01-20
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-03-08
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220308230836/https://es-us.finanzas.yahoo.com/noticias/15-ai-sitio-te-permite-152000712.html
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref>

The [[Deep learning|deep learning]] model used by the application is [[Nondeterministic algorithm|nondeterministic]]: each time that speech is generated from the same string of text, the intonation of the speech will be slightly different. The application also supports manually altering the emotion of a generated line using ''emotional contextualizers'' (a term coined by this project), a sentence or phrase that conveys the emotion of the take that serves as a guide for the model during inference.<ref name="towardds" /><ref name="automaton"/><ref name="Denfaminicogamer"/>
Emotional contextualizers are representations of the emotional content of a sentence deduced via [[Transfer learning|transfer learned]] [[Emoji|emoji]] [[Word embedding|embeddings]] using DeepMoji, a deep neural network [[Sentiment analysis|sentiment analysis]] algorithm developed by the [[Organization:MIT Media Lab|MIT Media Lab]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite book |last=Felbo |first=Bjarke |arxiv=1708.00524 |title=Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing|chapter=Using millions of emoji occurrences to learn any-domain representations for detecting sentiment, emotion and sarcasm |date=2017 |pages=1615–1625 |doi=10.18653/v1/D17-1169 |s2cid=2493033 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url= https://www.theregister.com/2017/08/07/sarcasm_detector_bot_mit/
 |title= A sarcasm detector bot? That sounds absolutely brilliant. Definitely
 |last= Corfield
 |first= Gareth
 |date= 2017-08-07
 |website= The Register
 |publisher= The Register
 |access-date= 2022-06-02
 |archive-date= 2022-06-02
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220602215737/https://www.theregister.com/2017/08/07/sarcasm_detector_bot_mit/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref> DeepMoji was trained on 1.2 billion emoji occurrences in [[Company:Twitter|Twitter]] data from 2013 to 2017, and has been found to outperform human subjects in correctly identifying sarcasm in Tweets and other online modes of communication.<ref>{{cite web
 |url= https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/08/03/105566/an-algorithm-trained-on-emoji-knows-when-youre-being-sarcastic-on-twitter/
 |title= An Algorithm Trained on Emoji Knows When You're Being Sarcastic on Twitter
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 2017-08-03
 |website= MIT Technology Review
 |publisher= MIT Technology Review
 |access-date= 2022-06-02
 |archive-date= 2022-06-02
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220602215737/https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/08/03/105566/an-algorithm-trained-on-emoji-knows-when-youre-being-sarcastic-on-twitter/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40850171
 |title= Emojis help software spot emotion and sarcasm
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 2017-08-07
 |website= BBC
 |publisher= BBC
 |access-date= 2022-06-02
 |archive-date= 2022-06-02
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220602215735/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40850171
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url= https://www.newsweek.com/emoji-computer-sarcasm-emotion-training-hate-speech-647474
 |title= Emoji-Filled Mean Tweets Help Scientists Create Sarcasm-Detecting Bot That Could Uncover Hate Speech
 |last= Lowe
 |first= Josh
 |date= 2017-08-07
 |website= Newsweek
 |publisher= Newsweek
 |access-date= 2022-06-02
 |archive-date= 2022-06-02
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220602215735/https://www.newsweek.com/emoji-computer-sarcasm-emotion-training-hate-speech-647474
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref>

15.ai uses a ''multi-speaker model''—hundreds of voices are trained concurrently rather than sequentially, decreasing the required training time and enabling the model to learn and generalize shared emotional context, even for voices with no exposure to such emotional context.<ref name="arxivmello">{{cite arXiv |last=Valle |first=Rafael |eprint=1910.11997 |title=Mellotron: Multispeaker expressive voice synthesis by conditioning on rhythm, pitch and global style tokens |class=eess |date=2020 }}</ref> Consequently, the entire lineup of characters in the application is powered by a single trained model, as opposed to multiple single-speaker models trained on different datasets.<ref name="arxivmulti">{{cite arXiv |last=Cooper |first=Erica |eprint=1910.10838 |title=Zero-Shot Multi-Speaker Text-To-Speech with State-of-the-art Neural Speaker Embeddings |class=eess |date=2020 }}</ref> The [[Social:Lexicon|lexicon]] used by 15.ai has been scraped from a variety of Internet sources, including Oxford Dictionaries, [[Social:Wiktionary|Wiktionary]], the [[Software:CMU Pronouncing Dictionary|CMU Pronouncing Dictionary]], [[Social:4chan|4chan]], [[Company:Reddit|Reddit]], and [[Company:Twitter|Twitter]]. Pronunciations of unfamiliar words are automatically deduced using phonological rules learned by the deep learning model.<ref name="automaton"/>

The application supports a simplified version of a set of English phonetic transcriptions known as ARPABET to correct mispronunciations or to account for heteronyms—words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently (such as the word ''read'', which can be pronounced as either {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɛ|d}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|iː|d}} depending on its [[Social:Grammatical tense|tense]]). While the original ARPABET codes developed in the 1970s by the Advanced Research Projects Agency supports 50 unique symbols to designate and differentiate between English phonemes,<ref name="klautau">{{cite web|last=Klautau|first=Aldebaro|year=2001|url=http://www.laps.ufpa.br/aldebaro/papers/ak_arpabet01.pdf|title=ARPABET and the TIMIT alphabet|access-date=September 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603180727/http://www.laps.ufpa.br/aldebaro/papers/ak_arpabet01.pdf|archive-date=June 3, 2016}}</ref> the [[Software:CMU Pronouncing Dictionary|CMU Pronouncing Dictionary]]'s ARPABET convention (the set of transcription codes followed by 15.ai<ref name="automaton" />) reduces the symbol set to 39 phonemes by combining allophonic phonetic realizations into a single standard (e.g. <code>AXR/ER</code>; <code>UX/UW</code>) and using multiple common symbols together to replace syllabic consonants (e.g. <code>EN/AH0 N</code>).<ref name="columbia">{{cite web
 |url= http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~julia/courses/CS6998-2019/%5B07%5D%20Phonetics.pdf
 |title= Phonetics
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 2017
 |website= [[Organization:Columbia University|Columbia University]]
 |publisher= [[Organization:Columbia University|Columbia University]]
 |access-date= 2022-06-11
 |url-status= live
 |archive-date= 2022-06-19
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220619180213/http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~julia/courses/CS6998-2019/%5B07%5D%20Phonetics.pdf
 }}</ref><ref name="prondicts">{{cite thesis
 |type=MSc
 |last=Loots
 |first=Linsen
 |date=March 2010
 |title=Data-Driven Augmentation of Pronunciation Dictionaries
 |publisher=Stellenbosch University, Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
 |citeseerx=10.1.1.832.2872
 |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.832.2872&rep=rep1&type=pdf
 |access-date=2022-06-11
 |url-status=live
 |quote=Table 3.2
 |archive-date=2022-06-11
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611175904/http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.832.2872&rep=rep1&type=pdf
 }}</ref> ARPABET strings can be invoked in the application by wrapping the string of phonemes in curly braces within the input box (e.g. <code>{AA1 R P AH0 B EH2 T}</code> to denote {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑːr|p|ə|ˌ|b|ɛ|t}}, the pronunciation of the word ''ARPABET'').<ref name="automaton" />

The following is a table of phonemes used by 15.ai and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary:<ref name="cmudict">
{{cite web
 |url= http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/cmudict
 |title= The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 2015-07-16
 |website= [[Software:CMU Pronouncing Dictionary|CMU Pronouncing Dictionary]]
 |publisher= [[Software:CMU Pronouncing Dictionary|CMU Pronouncing Dictionary]]
 |access-date= 2022-06-04
 |archive-date= 2022-06-03
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220603181334/http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/cmudict
 |url-status= live}}</ref>

 <div style="text-align: center;">
{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-table; text-align: center;"
|+ Vowels
! colspan="1" | ARPABET
! colspan="1" | Rspl.
! rowspan="1" | [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! rowspan="1" |  Example
|-
| <code>AA</code>
| ''ah''
| {{IPA link|ä|ɑ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''o'''dd
|-
| <code>AE</code>
| ''a''
| {{IPA link|æ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''a'''t
|-
| <code>AH0</code>
| ''ə''
| {{IPA link|ə}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''a'''bout
|-
| <code>AH</code>
| ''u, uh''
| {{IPA link|ʌ}}
| style="text-align:left" | h'''u'''t
|-
| <code>AO</code>
| ''aw''
| {{IPA link|ɔ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''ou'''ght
|-
| <code>AW</code>
| ''ow''
| {{IPA|aʊ}}
| style="text-align:left" | c'''ow'''
|-
| <code>AY</code>
| ''eye''
| {{IPA|aɪ}}
| style="text-align:left" | h'''i'''de
|-
| <code>EH</code>
| ''e, eh''
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''E'''d
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-table; text-align: center; margin-right: 2em;"
|+ Vowels
! colspan="1" | ARPABET
! colspan="1" | Rspl.
! rowspan="1" | [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! rowspan="1" |  Example
|-
| <code>ER</code>
| ''ur'', ''ər''
| {{IPA link|ɝ}}, {{IPA link|ɚ}}
| style="text-align:left" | h'''ur'''t
|-
| <code>EY</code>
| ''ay''
| {{IPA|eɪ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''a'''te
|-
| <code>IH</code>
| ''i'', ''ih''
| {{IPA link|ɪ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''i'''t
|-
| <code>IY</code>
| ''ee''
| {{IPA link|i}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''ea'''t
|-
| <code>OW</code>
| ''oh''
| {{IPA|oʊ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''oa'''t
|-
| <code>OY</code>
| ''oy''
| {{IPA|ɔɪ}}
| style="text-align:left" | t'''oy'''
|-
| <code>UH</code>
| ''uu''
| {{IPA link|ʊ}}
| style="text-align:left" | h'''oo'''d
|-
| <code>UW</code>
| ''oo''
| {{IPA link|u}}
| style="text-align:left" | t'''wo'''
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-table; text-align: center; margin-right: 2em;"
|+ Stress
! AB
! Description
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 0
| No stress
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 1
| Primary stress
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 2
| Secondary stress
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-table; text-align: center;"
|+ Consonants
! colspan="1" | ARPABET
! colspan="1" | Rspl.
! rowspan="1" | [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! rowspan="1" |  Example
|-
| <code>B</code>
| ''b''
| {{IPA link|b}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''b'''e
|-
| <code>CH</code>
| ''ch'', ''tch''
| {{IPA link|tʃ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''ch'''eese
|-
| <code>D</code>
| ''d''
| {{IPA link|d}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''d'''ee
|-
| <code>DH</code>
| ''dh''
| {{IPA link|ð}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''th'''ee
|-
| <code>F</code>
| ''f''
| {{IPA link|f}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''f'''ee
|-
| <code>G</code>
| ''g''
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''g'''reen
|-
| <code>HH</code>
| ''h''
| {{IPA link|h}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''h'''e
|-
| <code>JH</code>
| ''j''
| {{IPA link|dʒ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''g'''ee
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-table; text-align: center;"
|+ Consonants
! colspan="1" | ARPABET
! colspan="1" | Rspl.
! rowspan="1" | [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! rowspan="1" |  Example
|-
| <code>K</code>
| ''k''
| {{IPA link|k}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''k'''ey
|-
| <code>L</code>
| ''l''
| {{IPA link|l}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''l'''ee
|-
| <code>M</code>
| ''m''
| {{IPA link|m}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''m'''e
|-
| <code>N</code>
| ''n''
| {{IPA link|n}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''kn'''ee
|-
| <code>NG</code>
| ''ng''
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
| style="text-align:left" | pi'''ng'''
|-
| <code>P</code>
| ''p''
| {{IPA link|p}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''p'''ee
|-
| <code>R</code>
| ''r''
| {{IPA link|r}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''r'''ead
|-
| <code>S</code>
| ''s'', ''ss''
| {{IPA link|s}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''s'''ea
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-table; text-align: center;"
|+ Consonants
! colspan="1" | ARPABET
! colspan="1" | Rspl.
! rowspan="1" | [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! rowspan="1" |  Example
|-
| <code>SH</code>
| ''sh''
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''sh'''e
|-
| <code>T</code>
| ''t''
| {{IPA link|t}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''t'''ea
|-
| <code>TH</code>
| ''th''
| {{IPA link|θ}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''th'''eta
|-
| <code>V</code>
| ''v''
| {{IPA link|v}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''v'''ee
|-
| <code>W</code>
| ''w'', ''wh''
| {{IPA link|w}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''w'''e
|-
| <code>Y</code>
| ''y''
| {{IPA link|j}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''y'''ield
|-
| <code>Z</code>
| ''z''
| {{IPA link|z}}
| style="text-align:left" | '''z'''ee
|-
| <code>ZH</code>
| ''zh''
| {{IPA link|ʒ}}
| style="text-align:left" | sei'''z'''ure
|}
</div>

{{clear}}

== Background ==
=== Speech synthesis ===
{{Main|Deep learning speech synthesis}}
[[File:WaveNet animation.gif|thumb|right|A stack of dilated casual convolutional layers used in DeepMind's [[WaveNet|WaveNet]].<ref name="deepmind" />]]
In 2016, with the proposal of [[Company:DeepMind|DeepMind]]'s [[WaveNet]], deep-learning-based models for speech synthesis began to gain popularity as a method of modeling waveforms and generating human-like speech.<ref name="arxiv1">{{cite arXiv |last=Hsu |first=Wei-Ning |eprint=1810.07217 |title=Hierarchical Generative Modeling for Controllable Speech Synthesis |class=cs.CL |date=2018 }}</ref><ref name="arxiv2">{{cite arXiv |last=Habib |first=Raza |eprint=1910.01709 |title=Semi-Supervised Generative Modeling for Controllable Speech Synthesis |class=cs.CL |date=2019 }}</ref><ref name="deepmind">{{cite web|url=https://www.deepmind.com/blog/high-fidelity-speech-synthesis-with-wavenet|title=High-fidelity speech synthesis with WaveNet|last1=van den Oord|first1=Aäron|last2=Li|first2=Yazhe|last3=Babuschkin|first3=Igor|date=2017-11-12|website=[[Company:DeepMind|DeepMind]]|access-date=2022-06-05|archive-date=2022-06-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618205838/https://www.deepmind.com/blog/high-fidelity-speech-synthesis-with-wavenet|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="thebatch"/> Tacotron2, a neural network architecture for speech synthesis developed by [[Company:Google AI|Google AI]], was published in 2018 and required tens of hours of audio data to produce intelligible speech; when trained on 2 hours of speech, the model was able to produce intelligible speech with mediocre quality, and when trained on 36 minutes of speech, the model was unable to produce intelligible speech.<ref name="tacotron">{{cite web|url=https://google.github.io/tacotron/publications/semisupervised/index.html|title=Audio samples from "Semi-Supervised Training for Improving Data Efficiency in End-to-End Speech Synthesis"|date=2018-08-30|access-date=2022-06-05|archive-date=2020-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111222714/https://google.github.io/tacotron/publications/semisupervised/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="arxiv3">{{cite arXiv |eprint=1712.05884 |title=Natural TTS Synthesis by Conditioning WaveNet on Mel-Spectrogram Predictions |class=cs.CL |date=2018 |last1=Shen |first1=Jonathan |last2=Pang |first2=Ruoming |last3=Weiss |first3=Ron J. |last4=Schuster |first4=Mike |last5=Jaitly |first5=Navdeep |last6=Yang |first6=Zongheng |last7=Chen |first7=Zhifeng |last8=Zhang |first8=Yu |last9=Wang |first9=Yuxuan |last10=Skerry-Ryan |first10=RJ |last11=Saurous |first11=Rif A. |last12=Agiomyrgiannakis |first12=Yannis |last13=Wu |first13=Yonghui }}</ref>

For years, reducing the amount of data required to train a realistic high-quality text-to-speech model has been a primary goal of scientific researchers in the field of deep learning speech synthesis.<ref>{{cite arXiv |last=Chung |first=Yu-An |eprint=1808.10128 |title=Semi-Supervised Training for Improving Data Efficiency in End-to-End Speech Synthesis |class=cs.CL |date=2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite arXiv |last=Ren |first=Yi |eprint=1905.06791 |title=Almost Unsupervised Text to Speech and Automatic Speech Recognition |class=cs.CL |date=2019 }}</ref> The developer of 15.ai claims that as little as 15 seconds of data is sufficient to clone a voice up to human standards, a significant reduction in the amount of data required.<ref name="towardds"/><ref name="eurogamer"/>

=== Copyrighted material in deep learning ===
A landmark case between [[Company:Google|Google]] and the Authors Guild in 2013 ruled that [[Google Books]]—a service that searches the full text of printed copyrighted books—was transformative, thus meeting all requirements for fair use.<ref>- F.2d – (2d Cir, 2015). (temporary cites: 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 17988;
[https://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50260/images/AGvGoogle.pdf Slip opinion] (October 16, 2015))</ref> This case set an important legal precedent for the field of deep learning and artificial intelligence: using copyrighted material to train a [[Discriminative model|discriminative model]] or a ''non-commercial'' [[Generative model|generative model]] was deemed legal.<ref name="tds"/> The legality of ''commercial'' generative models trained using copyrighted material is still under debate; due to the black-box nature of machine learning models, any allegations of copyright infringement via direct competition would be difficult to prove.<ref name="tds">{{cite web
 |url= https://towardsdatascience.com/the-most-important-supreme-court-decision-for-data-science-and-machine-learning-44cfc1c1bcaf
 |title= The Most Important Court Decision For Data Science and Machine Learning
 |last= Stewart
 |first= Matthew
 |date= 2019-10-31
 |website= Towards Data Science
 |access-date= 2022-02-21
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-02-21
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220221223206/https://towardsdatascience.com/the-most-important-supreme-court-decision-for-data-science-and-machine-learning-44cfc1c1bcaf
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref>

== Development ==
15.ai was designed and created by an anonymous research scientist affiliated with the [[Organization:Massachusetts Institute of Technology|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] known by the alias ''15''.<ref name="twitter">
{{cite web
 |url= https://twitter.com/fifteenai
 |title= 15
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 2022-06-09
 |website= [[Company:Twitter|Twitter]]
 |publisher=
 |access-date= 2022-06-09
 |quote= }}
</ref> The project began development while the developer was an undergraduate. The developer has stated that they are capable of paying the high cost of running the site out of pocket.<ref name="towardds"/>

According to posts made by its developer on [[Social:Hacker News|Hacker News]], 15.ai costs several thousands of dollars per month to operate; they are able to support the project due to a successful startup [[Social:Exit strategy|exit]].<ref name="hn">{{cite web
 |url= https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31711118
 |title= 15.ai
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 2022-06-12
 |website= [[Social:Hacker News|Hacker News]]
 |publisher= 
 |access-date= 2022-06-13
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-06-13
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220613000443/http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31711118
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref> The developer has stated that during their undergraduate years at MIT, they were paid the minimum hourly rate to work on a related project (approximately $14 an hour in {{wipe|Massachusetts}}<ref>{{cite web
 |url= https://urop.mit.edu/guidelines/participation-considerations/pay-credit-volunteer/
 |title= Pay, Credit & Volunteer
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 
 |website= MIT UROP
 |publisher= 
 |access-date= 2022-06-13
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-06-19
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220619234437/https://urop.mit.edu/guidelines/participation-considerations/pay-credit-volunteer/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref>) that eventually evolved into 15.ai. They also stated that the democratization of voice cloning technology is not the only function of the website; in response to a user asking whether the research could be conducted without a public website, the developer wrote:
{{Blockquote
|text=[...] The website has multiple purposes. It serves as a [[Proof of concept|proof of concept]] of a platform that allows anyone to create content, even if they can't hire someone to voice their projects.

It also demonstrates the progress of my research in a far more engaging manner—by being able to use the actual model, you can discover things about it that even I wasn't aware of (such as getting characters to make gasping noises or moans by placing commas in between certain phonemes).

It also doesn't let me get away with [[Cherry picking|picking and choosing the best results]] and [[Philosophy:One-sided argument|showing off only the ones that work]] (which I believe is a big problem endemic in [[Machine learning|ML]] today—it's disingenuous and misleading). Being able to interact with the model with no filter allows the user to judge exactly how good the current work is at face value.
|author=15ai, ''Hacker News''<ref name="hn"/>
}}

The algorithm used by the project to facilitate the cloning of voices with minimal viable data has been dubbed '''DeepThroat'''<ref name="15aiabout">{{cite web
 |url= https://15.ai/about
 |title= 15.ai – About
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 2022-02-20
 |website= 15.ai
 |publisher= 
 |access-date= 2022-02-20
 |quote= 
 }}</ref> (a [[Double entendre|double entendre]] in reference to [[Speech synthesis|speech synthesis]] using deep neural networks and the sexual act of [[Medicine:Deep-throating|deep-throating]]). The project and algorithm—initially conceived as part of MIT's [[Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program]]—had been in development for years before the first release of the application.<ref name="towardds"/><ref name="automaton"/>

[[File:4chan Logo.png|thumb|The ''Pony Preservation Project'' from 4chan's /mlp/ board has been integral to the development of 15.ai.<ref name="gwern"/>]]
The developer has also worked closely with the Pony Preservation Project from /mlp/, the ''[[Social:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony]]'' board of [[Social:4chan|4chan]]. The '''Pony Preservation Project''', which began in 2019, is a "collaborative effort by /mlp/ to build and curate pony datasets" with the aim of creating applications in artificial intelligence.<ref name="gwern">{{cite journal
 |url= https://www.gwern.net/docs/ai/music/index#15-project-2020-section
 |title= "15.ai"⁠, 15, Pony Preservation Project
 |last= Branwen
 |first= Gwern
 |date= 2020-03-06
 |website= Gwern.net
 |publisher= Gwern
 |access-date= 2022-06-17
 |url-status= live
 |archive-date= 2022-03-18
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220318160737/https://www.gwern.net/docs/ai/music/index#15-project-2020-section
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url= https://www.equestriadaily.com/2020/03/neat-pony-preservation-project-using.html
 |title= Neat "Pony Preservation Project" Using Neural Networks to Create Pony Voices
 |last= Scotellaro
 |first= Shaun
 |date= 2020-03-14
 |website= Equestria Daily
 |publisher= Equestria Daily
 |access-date= 2022-06-11
 |archive-date= 2021-06-23
 |url-status= live
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210623210048/https://www.equestriadaily.com/2020/03/neat-pony-preservation-project-using.html
 }}</ref><ref name="ppp">
{{cite web
 |url= https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/38204261/
 |title= Pony Preservation Project (Thread 108)
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 2022-02-20
 |website= [[Social:4chan|4chan]]
 |publisher= Desuarchive
 |access-date= 2022-02-20
 |quote= }}</ref> The ''Friendship Is Magic'' voices on 15.ai were trained on a large dataset crowdsourced by the Pony Preservation Project: audio and dialogue from the show and related media—including all nine seasons of ''Friendship Is Magic'', the 2017 movie, spinoffs, [[Data breach|leaks]], and various other content voiced by the same voice actors—were [[Audio signal processing|parsed]], hand-transcribed, and [[Noise reduction|processed]] to remove background noise. According to the developer, the collective efforts and constructive criticism from the Pony Preservation Project have been integral to the development of 15.ai.<ref name="gwern"/>

In addition, the developer has stated that the logo of 15.ai, which features a robotic Twilight Sparkle, is an homage to the fact that her voice (as originally portrayed by Tara Strong) was indispensable to the implementation of emotional contextualizers.<ref name="hn"/>

== Reception ==
[[File:Andrew Ng WSJ (2).jpg|thumb|170px|right|Computer scientist Andrew Ng wrote that the technology behind 15.ai could potentially open up to cases of impersonation and fraud.]] 
15.ai has been met with largely positive reception. Liana Ruppert of ''Game Informer'' described 15.ai as "simplistically brilliant."<ref name="gameinformer"/> Lauren Morton of ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun'' and Natalia Clayton of ''PCGamer'' called it "fascinating,"<ref name="rockpapershotgun"/><ref name="pcgamer"/> and José Villalobos of ''LaPS4'' wrote that it "works as easy as it looks."<ref name="LaPS4"/>{{efn|Translated from original quote written in Spanish: ''"La dirección es 15.AI y funciona tan fácil como parece."''<ref name="LaPS4"/>}} Users praised the ability to easily create audio of popular characters that sound believable to those unaware that the voices had been synthesized by artificial intelligence: Zack Zwiezen of ''Kotaku'' reported that "[his] girlfriend was convinced it was a new voice line from GLaDOS' voice actor, Ellen McLain,"<ref name="kotaku"/> while Rionaldi Chandraseta of ''Towards Data Science'' wrote that, upon watching a [[Company:YouTube|YouTube]] video featuring popular character voices generated by 15.ai, "[his] first thought was the video creator used [[Cameo (website)|cameo.com]] to pay for new dialogues from the original voice actors" and stated that "the quality of voices done by 15.ai is miles ahead of [its competitors]."<ref name="towardds"/>

Reception has also been largely acclaimed overseas, especially in {{wipe|Japan}}. Takayuki Furushima of ''Den Fami Nico Gamer'' has described 15.ai as "like magic," and Yuki Kurosawa of ''Automaton Media'' called it "revolutionary."<ref name="Denfaminicogamer"/><ref name="automaton"/>

Computer scientist and technology entrepreneur [[Biography:Andrew Ng|Andrew Ng]] commented in his newsletter ''The Batch'' that the technology behind 15.ai could be "enormously productive" and could "revolutionize the use of [[Virtual actor|virtual actor]]s"; however, he also noted that "synthesizing a human actor's voice without consent is arguably unethical and possibly illegal" and could potentially open up to cases of [[Deepfake#Concerns|impersonation and fraud]].<ref name="thebatch"/><ref name="batch"/> In his blog ''Marginal Revolution'', [[Social:Economist|economist]] Tyler Cowen deemed 15 one of the "most underrated talents in AI and machine learning."<ref>{{cite web
 |url= https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/05/the-most-underrated-talent-in-ai.html
 |title= The most underrated talent in AI?
 |last= Cowen
 |first= Tyler
 |date= 2022-05-12
 |website= Marginal Revolution (blog)
 |publisher= Marginal Revolution (blog)
 |access-date= 2022-06-16
 |url-status= live
 |archive-date= 2022-06-19
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220619203626/https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/05/the-most-underrated-talent-in-ai.html
 }}</ref>

== Impact ==
=== Fandom content creation ===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Screenshot from The Tax Breaks.png|thumb|left|300px|The fan-created episode ''The Tax Breaks'', based on a work of fanfiction published in 2014, was entirely voiced using 15.ai.<ref name="taxbreaks"/>]] -->
15.ai has been frequently used for [[Social:Content creation|content creation]] in various fandoms, including the [[Social:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom|''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' fandom]], the ''[[Software:Team Fortress 2|Team Fortress 2]]'' fandom, the ''Portal'' fandom, and the ''[[Social:SpongeBob SquarePants|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' fandom. Numerous videos and projects containing speech from 15.ai have gone [[Finance:Viral video|viral]].<ref name="towardds" /><ref name="kotaku" /><ref name="gameinformer" /> However, some videos and projects that contain non-15.ai-generated speech have also gone viral, many of which do not properly credit the source(s) of the synthetic speech featured in them. As a consequence, many videos and projects that have been made with other speech synthesis software have been mistaken as being made with 15.ai, and vice versa. Due to this misattribution and absence of proper credit, 15.ai's terms of service has a rule that forbids having 15.ai-and-non-15.ai-generated speech in the same videos and projects.<ref name="15ai">{{cite web
 |url= https://15.ai/faq
 |title= 15.ai – FAQ
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |date= 2021-01-18
 |website= 15.ai
 |publisher= 
 |access-date= 2021-01-18
 |quote= 
 }}</ref>

The ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' fandom has seen a resurgence in video and musical content creation as a direct result, inspiring a new genre of fan-created content assisted by artificial intelligence. Some fanfiction have been adapted into fully voiced "episodes": ''The Tax Breaks'' is a 17-minute long animated video rendition of a fan-written story published in 2014 that uses voices generated from 15.ai with sound effects and audio editing, emulating the episodic style of the early seasons of ''Friendship Is Magic''.<ref name="taxbreaks">{{cite web
 |url= https://www.equestriadaily.com/2022/05/full-simple-animated-episode-tax-breaks.html
 |title= Full Simple Animated Episode – The Tax Breaks (Twilight)
 |last= Scotellaro
 |first= Shaun
 |date= 2022-05-15
 |website= Equestria Daily
 |publisher= Equestria Daily
 |access-date= 2022-05-28
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-05-21
 |url-status= live
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220521132423/https://www.equestriadaily.com/2022/05/full-simple-animated-episode-tax-breaks.html
 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 April 2014 |title=The Terribly Taxing Tribulations of Twilight Sparkle |url=https://www.fimfiction.net/story/185725 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630170105/https://www.fimfiction.net/story/185725 |archive-date=30 June 2022 |access-date=28 April 2022 |website=Fimfiction.net}}</ref>

Viral videos from the ''Team Fortress 2'' fandom that feature voices from 15.ai include ''Spy is a Furry'' (which has gained over 3 million views on YouTube total across multiple videos<ref group="yt">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAmhr6Was3E|title=SPY IS A FURRY|work=[[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]|access-date=June 14, 2022|archive-date=June 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220613094918/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAmhr6Was3E|url-status=live}}</ref><ref group="yt">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwQn7ISVV_8|title=Spy is a Furry Animated|work=[[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]|access-date=June 14, 2022|archive-date=June 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614203255/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwQn7ISVV_8|url-status=live}}</ref><ref group="yt">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0FLyW86owo|title=[SFM] – Spy's Confession – [TF2 15.ai]|work=[[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]|access-date=June 14, 2022|archive-date=June 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630170113/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0FLyW86owo|url-status=live}}</ref>) and ''The RED Bread Bank'', both of which have inspired [[Software:Source Filmmaker|Source Filmmaker]] animated video renditions.<ref name="automaton"/> Other fandoms have used voices from 15.ai to produce viral videos. {{As of|July 2022}}, the viral video ''[[Software:Among Us|Among Us]] Struggles'' (which uses voices from ''Friendship Is Magic'') has over 5.5 million views on YouTube;<ref group="yt">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPE3vnLY3TE|title=Among Us Struggles|work=[[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]|access-date=July 15, 2022}}</ref> YouTubers, TikTokers, and [[Company:Twitch (service)|Twitch]] streamers have also used 15.ai for their videos, such as FitMC's video on the history of 2b2t&mdash;one of the oldest running ''[[Software:Minecraft|Minecraft]]'' servers&mdash;and datpon3's TikTok video featuring the main characters of ''Friendship Is Magic'', which have 1.4 million and 510 thousand views, respectively.<ref group="yt">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V1O2gTdqHw|title=The UPDATED 2b2t Timeline (2010–2020)|work=[[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]|access-date=June 14, 2022|archive-date=June 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601085855/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V1O2gTdqHw|url-status=live}}</ref><ref group="tt">{{cite web|url=https://www.tiktok.com/@datpon3/video/6813618431217241350|title=She said " 👹 " |work=[[Software:TikTok|TikTok]]|access-date=July 15, 2022}}</ref>

Some users have created AI [[Engineering:Virtual assistant|virtual assistant]]s using 15.ai and external voice control software. One user on Twitter created their own personal GLaDOS desktop assistant using the voice control system VoiceAttack that is able to boot up applications, utter corresponding random dialogues, and thank the user in response to actions.<ref name="automaton"/><ref name="Denfaminicogamer"/>

=== Troy Baker / Voiceverse NFT plagiarism scandal ===
{{tweet
|image         = Troy Baker SDCC 2019 (48378614692) (cropped).jpg
|name          = Troy Baker
|username      = TroyBakerVA
|width         = 350px
|date          = January 14, 2022
|text          = I’m partnering with @VoiceverseNFT to explore ways where together we might bring new tools to new creators to make new things, and allow everyone a chance to own & invest in the IP’s they create. 
We all have a story to tell. 
You can hate.
Or you can create.
What'll it be?
|left          = yes
|reference     = <ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=TroyBakerVA|number=1481869350621437955|date = January 14, 2022 |title=I'm partnering with @VoiceverseNFT to explore ways where together we might bring new tools to new creators to make new things, and allow everyone a chance to own & invest in the IP’s they create. We all have a story to tell. You can hate. Or you can create. What’ll it be?}}</ref>
}}
In December 2021, the developer of 15.ai posted on [[Company:Twitter|Twitter]] that they had no interest in incorporating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into their work.<ref name="wccftech"/><ref name="stevivor"/><ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=fifteenai |number=1470190153188749313|date = December 12, 2021 |title=I have no interest in incorporating NFTs into any aspect of my work. Please stop asking.}}</ref>

On January 14, 2022, it was discovered that Voiceverse NFT, a company that video game and anime dub voice actor Troy Baker announced his partnership with, had plagiarized voice lines generated from 15.ai as part of their marketing campaign.<ref name="nme"/><ref name="stevivor"/><ref name="techtimes"/> [[Software:Logging|Log files]] showed that Voiceverse had generated audio of Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash from the show ''[[Social:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony]]'' using 15.ai, pitched them up to make them sound unrecognizable from the original voices, and appropriated them without proper credit to falsely market their own platform—a violation of 15.ai's terms of service.<ref name="eurogamer">{{cite web
 |url= https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-01-17-troy-baker-backed-nft-firm-admits-using-voice-lines-taken-from-another-service-without-permission
 |title= Troy Baker-backed NFT firm admits using voice lines taken from another service without permission
 |last= Phillips
 |first= Tom
 |date= 2022-01-17
 |website= Eurogamer
 |publisher= Eurogamer
 |access-date= 2022-01-17
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-01-17
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220117164033/https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-01-17-troy-baker-backed-nft-firm-admits-using-voice-lines-taken-from-another-service-without-permission
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="wccftech">{{cite web
 |url= https://wccftech.com/voiceverse-nft-service-uses-stolen-technology-from-15ai/
 |title= Troy Baker-backed NFT firm admits using voice lines taken from another service without permission
 |last= Lopez
 |first= Ule
 |date= 2022-01-16
 |website= Wccftech
 |publisher= Wccftech
 |access-date= 2022-06-07
 |url-status= live
 |archive-date= 2022-01-16
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220116194519/https://wccftech.com/voiceverse-nft-service-uses-stolen-technology-from-15ai/
 }}</ref><ref name="techtimes"/>

{{tweet
|image         = 15 ai logo transparent.png
|name          = 15
|username      = fifteenai
|width         = 450px
|date          = January 14, 2022
|text          = I've been informed that the aforementioned NFT vocal synthesis is actively attempting to appropriate my work for their own benefit.
After digging through the [[Software:Logging|log files]], I have evidence that some of the voices that they are taking credit for were indeed generated from my own site.
|reference     = <ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=fifteenai |number=1482055102919757835|date = January 14, 2022 |title=I've been informed that the aforementioned NFT vocal synthesis is actively attempting to appropriate my work for their own benefit. After digging through the log files, I have evidence that some of the voices that they are taking credit for were indeed generated from my own site.}}</ref>
}}
{{tweet
|image         = Stadot-008cf0.svg
|name          = Voiceverse Origins
|username      = VoiceverseNFT
|width         = 450px
|date          = January 14, 2022
|text          = Hey @fifteenai we are extremely sorry about this. The voice was indeed taken from your platform, which our marketing team used without giving proper credit. Chubbiverse team has no knowledge of this. We will make sure this never happens again.
|reference     = <ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=VoiceverseNFT |number=1482067251704434688|date = January 14, 2022 |title=Hey @fifteenai we are extremely sorry about this. The voice was indeed taken from your platform, which our marketing team used without giving proper credit. Chubbiverse team has no knowledge of this. We will make sure this never happens again.}}</ref>
}}
{{tweet
|image         = 15 ai logo transparent.png
|name          = 15
|width         = 450px
|username      = fifteenai
|date          = January 14, 2022
|text          = Go fuck yourself.
|reference     = <ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=fifteenai |number=1482088782765576192|date = January 14, 2022 |title=Go fuck yourself.}}</ref>
}}

A week prior to the announcement of the partnership with Baker, Voiceverse made a (now-deleted) Twitter post directly responding to a (now-deleted) video posted by Chubbiverse—an NFT platform with which Voiceverse had partnered—showcasing an AI-generated voice and claimed that it was generated using Voiceverse's platform, remarking ''"I wonder who created the voice for this? ;)"''<ref name="nme" /><ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=VoiceverseNFT |number=1479505176684032000|date = January 7, 2022 |title=I wonder who created the voice for this? ;)|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220107173329/https://twitter.com/VoiceverseNFT/status/1479505176684032000|archive-date= January 7, 2022}}</ref> A few hours after news of the partnership broke, the developer of 15.ai—having been alerted by another Twitter user asking for his opinion on the partnership, to which he speculated that it "sounds like a scam"<ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=fifteenai |number=1482024112700723204|date = January 14, 2022 |title=Sounds like a scam}}</ref>—posted screenshots of log files that proved that a user of the website (with their [[IP address]] redacted) had submitted inputs of the exact words spoken by the AI voice in the video posted by Chubbiverse,<ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=fifteenai |number=1482059159092793346|date = January 14, 2022 |title=Give proper credit or remove this post.}}</ref> and subsequently responded to Voiceverse's claim directly, tweeting "Certainly not you :)".<ref name="eurogamer" /><ref name="stevivor" /><ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=fifteenai |number=1482059305360797702|date = January 14, 2022 |title=Certainly not you :)}}</ref>

Following the tweet, Voiceverse admitted to plagiarizing voices from 15.ai as their own platform, claiming that their [[Finance:Marketing|marketing]] team had used the project without giving proper credit and that the "Chubbiverse team [had] no knowledge of this." In response to the admission, 15 tweeted "Go fuck yourself."<ref name="nme" /><ref name="stevivor"/><ref name="techtimes" /><ref name="eurogamer"/> The final tweet went [[Viral phenomenon|viral]], accruing over 75,000 total likes and 13,000 total retweets across multiple reposts.<ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=fifteenai |number=1482088782765576192|date = January 14, 2022 |title=Go fuck yourself.}}</ref><ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=yongyea |number=1482119084183474178|date = January 14, 2022 |title=The NFT scheme that Troy Baker is promoting is already finding itself in trouble after stealing and profiting off of somebody else's work. Who could've seen this coming.}}</ref><ref group="tweet">{{Cite tweet |user=BronyStruggle |number=1482468865368072195|date = January 15, 2022 |title=actual}}</ref>

The initial partnership between Baker and Voiceverse was met with severe backlash and universally negative reception.<ref name="nme"/> Critics highlighted the [[Finance:Environmental impact of cryptocurrencies|environmental impact of]] and potential for [[Exit scam|exit scam]]s associated with NFT sales.<ref name="eurogamer2">{{cite web
 |url= https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-01-14-video-game-voice-actor-troy-baker-is-now-promoting-nfts
 |title= Video game voice actor Troy Baker is now promoting NFTs
 |last= Phillips
 |first= Tom
 |date= 2022-01-14
 |website= Eurogamer
 |publisher= Eurogamer
 |access-date= 2022-01-14
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-01-14
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220114104215/https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-01-14-video-game-voice-actor-troy-baker-is-now-promoting-nfts
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref> Commentators also pointed out the irony in Baker's initial Tweet announcing the partnership, which ended with "You can hate. Or you can create. What'll it be?", hours before the public revelation that the company in question had resorted to theft instead of creating their own product. Baker responded that he appreciated people sharing their thoughts and their responses were "giving [him] a lot to think about."<ref>{{Cite web|last=McWhertor|first=Michael|date=2022-01-14|title=The Last of Us voice actor wants to sell 'voice NFTs,' drawing ire|url=https://www.polygon.com/22883752/troy-baker-nfts-voice-last-of-us-bioshock|access-date=2022-01-14|website=Polygon|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114174747/https://www.polygon.com/22883752/troy-baker-nfts-voice-last-of-us-bioshock|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Last Of Us Voice Actor Pisses Everyone Off With NFT Push|url=https://kotaku.com/last-of-us-voice-actor-pisses-everyone-off-with-nft-pus-1848360093|access-date=2022-01-14|website=Kotaku|date=January 14, 2022|language=en-us|archive-date=2022-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114154523/https://kotaku.com/last-of-us-voice-actor-pisses-everyone-off-with-nft-pus-1848360093|url-status=live}}</ref> He also acknowledged that the "hate/create" part in his initial Tweet might have been "a bit antagonistic," and asked fans on social media to forgive him.<ref name="stevivor"/><ref>{{Cite web|last=Purslow|first=Matt|date=2022-01-14|title=Troy Baker Is Working With NFTs, but Fans Are Unimpressed|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/troy-baker-nft-voiceverse|access-date=2022-01-14|website=IGN|language=en|archive-date=2022-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114130245/https://www.ign.com/articles/troy-baker-nft-voiceverse|url-status=live}}</ref> Two weeks later, on January 31, Baker announced that he would discontinue his partnership with Voiceverse.<ref name="tweaktown">{{cite web
 |url= https://www.tweaktown.com/news/84299/last-of-us-actor-troy-baker-heeds-fans-abandons-nft-plans/index.html
 |title= Last of Us actor Troy Baker heeds fans, abandons NFT plans
 |last= Strickland
 |first= Derek
 |date= 2022-01-31
 |website= Tweaktown
 |access-date= 2022-01-31
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-01-31
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220131172752/https://www.tweaktown.com/news/84299/last-of-us-actor-troy-baker-heeds-fans-abandons-nft-plans/index.html
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="wgtc">{{cite web
 |url= https://wegotthiscovered.com/gaming/the-last-of-us-actor-troy-baker-reverses-course-on-nfts-amid-fan-backlash/
 |title= 'The Last of Us' actor Troy Baker reverses course on NFTs amid fan backlash
 |last= Peterson
 |first= Danny
 |date= 2022-01-31
 |website= We Got This Covered
 |access-date= 2022-02-14
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-02-14
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220214191046/https://wegotthiscovered.com/gaming/the-last-of-us-actor-troy-baker-reverses-course-on-nfts-amid-fan-backlash/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Peters|first=Jay|date=2022-01-31|title=The voice of Joel from The Last of Us steps away from NFT project after outcry|url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910633/troy-baker-voiceverse-nft-voice-actor-project-the-last-of-us|access-date=2022-02-04|website=The Verge|language=en|archive-date=2022-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204042246/https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910633/troy-baker-voiceverse-nft-voice-actor-project-the-last-of-us|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Reactions from voice actors===
Some voice actors have publicly decried the use of voice cloning technology. Cited reasons include concerns about [[Deepfake#Concerns|impersonation and fraud]], unauthorized use of an actor's voice in [[Deepfake pornography|pornography]], and the potential of [[Engineering:Technological unemployment|AI being used to make voice actors obsolete]].<ref name="thebatch"/><ref name="batch">{{cite web
 |url= https://read.deeplearning.ai/the-batch/issue-83/
 |title= Weekly Newsletter Issue 83
 |last= Ng
 |first= Andrew
 |date= 2021-03-07
 |website= The Batch
 |publisher= The Batch
 |access-date= 2021-03-07
 |quote= 
 |archive-date= 2022-02-26
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220226175907/https://read.deeplearning.ai/the-batch/issue-83/
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref><ref name="wccftech"/>

== See also ==
*[[Audio deepfake]]
*[[Software:Character.ai|Character.ai]]
*[[Software:DALL-E|DALL-E]]
*[[Deepfake]]
*[[Software:Midjourney|Midjourney]]
*[[Software:NovelAI|NovelAI]]
*[[Software:Stable Diffusion|Stable Diffusion]]
*[[Synthetic media]]
*[[WaveNet]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
;Notes
{{reflist}}
;Tweets
{{reflist|group=tweet|35em}}
;YouTube (referenced for view counts and usage of 15.ai only)
{{reflist|group=yt|35em}}
;TikTok
{{reflist|group=tt|35em}}

==External links==
* {{Twitter | id= fifteenai | name= 15 }}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLGlrY7cooY ''The Tax Breaks (Twilight) (15.ai)'']

{{Differentiable computing}}
{{Speech synthesis}}

[[Category:Speech synthesis]]
[[Category:Applications of artificial intelligence]]
[[Category:Web applications]]

{{Sourceattribution|15.ai}}