AI is set to become a boon for millions of smartphone users. Imagine an app that can mimic your voice and take calls on your behalf—that's precisely what developers are aiming to offer consumers. Truecaller has introduced a new feature allowing its subscribed users to use an AI-powered assistant to answer calls in their own voices. This innovation was announced following a collaboration with tech giant Microsoft’s Personal Voice technology, integrated into Azure AI Speech.
This feature is exclusively available to paid users, enabling them to replicate their voices for answering calls, responding, or greeting callers. Additionally, it provides system-generated call responses in the user's voice.
First unveiled in 2022, Truecaller's AI-powered assistant offers various features, such as screening unknown calls, taking messages, responding on behalf of users, and even recording conversations. To activate this feature, users need to record a brief script and consent for the application to create a voice replica. Once set up, the AI will use this recorded voice to handle calls.
Limitations
Although Truecaller offers several options for editing greetings, the customisation of personal voices is limited. This restriction ensures the voice remains clearly identifiable as a digital version. However, users can still tailor the responses to their preferences.
To maintain transparency and authenticity, Azure AI Speech’s personal voice feature includes a watermark on speech outputs, detectable by a tool designed to identify synthetic audio. Currently, this technology is available through limited, registration-only access.
Truecaller plans to roll out this personal assistant voice feature in the coming weeks in countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, Sweden, and Chile.