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- 15.ai is a non-commercial freeware artificial intelligence web application that generates natural emotive high-fidelity text-to-speech voices from an assortment of fictional characters from a variety of media sources. Developed by an anonymous MIT researcher under the eponymous pseudonym 15, the project uses a combination of audio synthesis algorithms, speech synthesis deep neural networks, and sentiment analysis models to generate and serve emotive character voices faster than real-time, even those with a very small amount of data. Launched in early 2020, 15.ai began as a proof of concept of the democratization of voice acting and dubbing using technology. Its gratis and non-commercial nature (with the only stipulation being that the project be properly credited when used), ease of use, and substantial improvements to current text-to-speech implementations have been lauded by users; however, some critics and voice actors have questioned the legality and ethicality of leaving such technology publicly available and readily accessible. Credited as the impetus behind the popularization of AI vocal reconstruction technology in content creation, 15.ai has had a significant impact on multiple Internet fandoms, most notably the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Team Fortress 2, and SpongeBob SquarePants fandoms. 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 plagiarized 15.ai's work as part of their platform. (en)
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