(CNN) — Manjana Advertising A series of new accessibility tools for iPhone and iPad this Tuesday, including a feature that mimics a user’s voice for phone calls after 15 minutes of training.
With an upcoming tool called Personal Voice, users can read text prompts to record audio and the technology can learn their voice. A related feature, called Live Speech, uses “integrated speech” to read aloud user-written text during phone calls, FaceTime conversations, and in-person conversations. People can save commonly used phrases to use during live conversations.
This feature is part of an effort to make Apple devices more inclusive for people with cognitive, visual, hearing and mobility disabilities. Apple said people with conditions that cause voice loss over time, such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), could benefit the most from these devices.
“Accessibility is part of everything we do at Apple,” Sarah Herlinger, Apple’s senior director of global accessibility policy and initiatives, said in a company blog post. “These innovative features are designed to support a diverse range of users and help people connect in new ways, with input from members of the disability community at every step.”
Apple said these features will be rolled out later this year.
Risks of technology for deepfakes
While these tools have the potential to fill a real need, at a time when advances in artificial intelligence have raised alarm bells about bad actors, so-called “deepfakes” use fake audio and video to spoof or misrepresent information. General
In BlogApple said the Personal Voice feature “uses on-device machine learning to keep users’ information private and secure.”
Other tech companies have experimented with using AI to replicate voice. Last year, Amazon said it was working on improving its Alexa system, which would allow the technology to imitate the voice of any deceased relative. (This feature is not yet released.)
In addition to voice features, Apple announced Assistive Access, which integrates the most popular iOS apps like FaceTime, Messages, Camera, Photos, Music and Phone into a single Calls app. The interface includes high-contrast buttons, large text labels, an option for an emoji-only keyboard, and the ability to record video messages for people who prefer visual or audio communication.
Apple is also updating its Magnifier app for the visually impaired. It will now include a sensitivity mode to help people better interact with physical objects. The update, for example, will allow users to hold an iPhone camera in front of the microwave and move their finger across the keyboard while the app labels and announces the text on the microwave buttons.
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