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Alex
The Ukraine has created a new AI generated Foreign Ministry spokesperson. This is such a fascinating and interesting on so many levels development in my opinion. Essentially what they're doing is they said that like they're doing this to like alleviate, you know, the time and energy that like a head of or like some sort of diplomat would have to do to be this person. Instead. Now their new Foreign Ministry person is AI. My opinion on this is going to vary on a bunch of different things. I'm sure I'll make people mad whatever I say about this. So if that's you, I don't know, find a new episode. But here's, here's my opinion. Number one, this is not great news. I feel like from an optics perspective this is kind of like I don't want to listen to an AI person really if I know it's an AI person. Like that's my opinion. And so it's like if all of a sudden I'm going and like listening to like some head of like Foreign Ministry and they're like telling me updates and it's an AI, I just immediately think I lose trust. Now do people lie or say things that are untrue? A hundred percent. Like look at the American press secretary. You could say either under Biden or under Trump, whoever you don't like. Right. Like you could say that they're telling falsehoods as well. So it's like, I don't know, maybe, maybe that's like a good argument here. But like it definitely from an optics perspective having like an AI do this, you just feel like you could have like a small group of people who turn all of the cabinet in their government into these AIs and then they can control them. And it makes it look like there's a bunch of people like it just come on. It doesn't seem that great. You also like, yeah, intrinsically don't trust it if it's like a clone of somebody. So for example, I recently on X there was this viral clip where they used hey Gen. Which is like an. A video cloner to take a video of the president of I think Argentina Mile. And they like cloned. They like whatever. They essentially like cloned his voice and they played it in English because he obviously only speaks like Portuguese, right? Or Spanish, I'm pretty sure Portuguese. So they do it in English and now you're listening to like you watch the video of him talking, but you can hear English in his own actual voice. They clone his voice to me. That's cool. And even if they made A clone of him, like talking and did the same thing. It'd be kind of like, whatever. It's actually him. I actually am like, I have no problems whatsoever when they do the AI voice because to me that seems like obviously he doesn't speak English and I want to hear in his own voice. I don't want to hear it dubbed by, like, there's nothing worse than like listening to like a foreign leader talking like the president of China. And then it's like dubbed over by like a woman's voice. And it's just like your brain, like, you're like, come on. Like, at least pick someone that sort of sounds like him. Like, I need to, like, you know, whatever. So I think, like, there's a real problem that these AIs can solve. I don't think the solution is to completely fabricate a new person because they're like, well, it's going to save time and energy of like an actual, you know, diplomat. But it's like, what, what else is the point of, of your diplomats? And also you could pick one diplomat in your whole country. You could pick one person that it's their job to be the, the spokesperson. And you could use AI to clone their voice and have it in every language. If that's your issue, cool. But like, I want to see a real person. It, to me it seems, I don't know, it just seems sketchy and weird to have it like a hundred percent be an AI person. So that's my opinion on it. The ministry released a statement on it and they said that this is for the first time in history, they're going to use a digital spokesperson to read their statements, which they said are still going to be written by humans. So I don't know why you want to still have it read by a human. Anyways, their spokesperson, her name is Victoria. She and she is dressed in a dark suit. And yeah, it's, it's going to be interesting. So right now it's just like a talking head. So she's like sitting there, she's moving her hands, she holds press services, and it's, it's, you know, going to be really interesting. They're saying, like, don't worry, everything we give her is going to be written and verified by real people. It's just the visual element that is going to be kind of this AI generated thing. So. So Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Foreign Minister Dmytro Kueblo said in a. Said that this new spokeswoman or whatever is, was a, quote, technological leap that no diplomatic service in the world has yet made again, like, I don't want to just like beg on them all day, but like, no, no one in the world has made before. Like, maybe there's a reason. Like, I don't know if you want to be like in government. I don't. Sometimes it's just to be the first person to ever do something. Maybe there's a handful of governments like, oh yeah, we're all kind of like doing this thing and it's like, oh yeah, cool. But it's like we're the first ones. It's. I don't know, sometimes it's like you're either really innovative or you're like, not good. That's just kind of the feeling you get from it. So anyways, there's that. And I think one of the main reasons that they said they're going to do this was quote, saving time and resources. They said that she's creator or creators are a team called the Game Changers who also made some virtual reality content related to the war in Ukraine. They said that the spokesperson is based on the word victory and that Ukrainian officials or Ukrainian artificial intelligence word. So anyways, right now all of her appearance are modified on a. And like their voice is like modified on a real person who is Rosalie Nombre, who's a singer and former contestant on Ukraine's version of the Bachelor. So it's like they got this like celebrity from like Ukraine's Bachelor and now she's like the model for this and they turn her into their, their international spokesperson. They like clone an AI on her. I don't know, man. It's just not my thing. I just, you know, it would be like, you know, it'd be like if you had Katy Perry is like America's spokesperson. But we created like a AI clone of Katy Perry. Like, I don't know, man, it just really wouldn't be my thing. It doesn't feel very professional. But that's just me, right? So, you know, I'll curb my criticism on all of this. This is something that's interesting. Nombre was actually born in the now Russian controlled city of Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine. For some reason they all want to say that she like, she's got 54,000 followers on Instagram. I don't know what this has anything to do. I think she used to like, I guess the, the thing that's interesting is like she discussed stereotypes about. Quoting here from a Barron's article, mixed race Ukrainians and those who grew up as Russian speakers. I don't know a lot. I didn't know that Russians and Ukrainians were different races. I guess I don't know a lot on this issue. And anyways, I'll move on. That's a quote from the Barron's article on this. Essentially what they've said though is that she and Nombre, quote, are two different people and that only the AI figure gives official statements. Here's another issue that they're going to run into. When you clone someone, right, like Nombre, who's like kind of a local celebrity, and now all of a sudden she's like your government spokesperson. She has her own, she's a, she's an actual person that's going to make her own statements on Instagram like they're two separate people, but people are going to like start to like, assume they're the same person if you have a good realistic AI clone of like a famous person. So like, let's say the Katy Perry thing. If all of a sudden Katy Perry is like the US government spokesperson, which I don't know why she'd ever sell her likeness to be used for that, because that seems ridiculous because they can make her say whatever they want. And then like, let's say the U.S. government is like, from. Katy Perry's AI is like, we want to go to war with Iran. This is going to be awesome. And then Katy Perry is like, I don't want us go to war with Iran. This is going to be terrible. It just seems like an optics nightmare, like an absolute optics nightmare. So again, one, one more point on why this is probably a bad idea and why they're the first people to do it. Maybe there's a reason. In any case, this, there's a ton of controversy around all of this. There's AI being used in all sorts of aspects of this war. Obviously it's a tragedy what's happening in the Ukraine and, and all that. And there's controversies about what's going on and Russia side of the story and like all the, all this stuff. Like, I'm not going into the geopolitics of the whole war. I'm talking about the AI use case and I'm not necessarily criticizing Ukraine specifically either. If this was any government, if this was Russia doing it, I'd say this is a bad optics issue. If this is a US government, I'd say this is a bad optics issue. So it's a very interesting how this is all playing out. But yeah, we'll, we'll keep you updated on if this is a project that gets continued or if my opinion this thing gets canceled probably after not too long, but maybe that's just me. In any case, if you enjoyed the episode today, make sure to subscribe like the video. If you enjoyed what we talked about, or if you learned something new, make sure to leave us a review. And I hope that you all have an amazing rest of your day.
Summary of "AI-Generated Spokeswoman for Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Revealed" Episode
Podcast: The Mark Cuban Podcast
Host: Alex
Episode Title: AI-Generated Spokeswoman for Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Revealed
Release Date: May 2, 2024
In this episode, host Alex delves into Ukraine's recent initiative to deploy an AI-generated spokesperson for its Foreign Ministry. This pioneering move marks a significant intersection between technology and diplomacy, raising questions about trust, authenticity, and the future role of artificial intelligence in governmental communications.
Alex begins by explaining the primary motivation behind Ukraine's decision to introduce an AI spokesperson. According to Alex, the Ukrainian government aims to "alleviate the time and energy that a head of or some sort of diplomat would have to do" by delegating spokesperson duties to an AI entity. This strategic shift is seen as a means to streamline communication and manage diplomatic statements more efficiently.
Notable Quote:
"Ukraine has created a new AI-generated Foreign Ministry spokesperson... essentially what they're doing is they're doing this to like alleviate, you know, the time and energy that a head of or like some sort of diplomat would have to do to be this person."
— Alex [00:02]
Alex expresses skepticism regarding the optics and trustworthiness of an AI spokesperson. He articulates a prevalent concern: the lack of human authenticity may erode public trust.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"If all of a sudden I'm going and listening to like some head of like Foreign Ministry and they're like telling me updates and it's an AI, I just immediately think I lose trust."
— Alex [00:02]
Alex provides details about the AI spokesperson, named Victoria, highlighting the technical aspects of her creation and deployment.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"The ministry released a statement on it and they said that this is for the first time in history, they're going to use a digital spokesperson to read their statements, which they said are still going to be written by humans."
— Alex [00:02]
A significant portion of the discussion centers on the ethical implications of voice cloning, using the example of Rosalie Nombre—a Ukrainian singer and former contestant on Ukraine's version of "The Bachelor"—whose voice is employed for Victoria.
Key Points:
Notable Quotes:
"If all of a sudden Katy Perry is like the US government spokesperson... It just seems like an optics nightmare, like an absolute optics nightmare."
— Alex [00:02]
"It, to me, seems sketchy and weird to have it like a hundred percent be an AI person."
— Alex [00:02]
Alex acknowledges the controversies surrounding the use of AI in diplomatic roles, emphasizing that while AI applications are pervasive in the Ukraine conflict, the introduction of an AI spokesperson is unprecedented and potentially problematic.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"It's a very interesting how this is all playing out. But yeah, we'll keep you updated on if this is a project that gets continued or if my opinion this thing gets canceled probably after not too long."
— Alex [00:02]
Alex wraps up the episode by summarizing his reservations about Ukraine's AI spokesperson, emphasizing the importance of human authenticity in diplomatic communications. He acknowledges the innovative nature of the project but remains doubtful about its long-term viability and public acceptance.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"It just seems like an optics nightmare, like an absolute optics nightmare. So again, one, one more point on why this is probably a bad idea and why they're the first people to do it. Maybe there's a reason."
— Alex [00:02]
This episode of The Mark Cuban Podcast offers a comprehensive exploration of Ukraine's groundbreaking yet controversial initiative to utilize an AI-generated spokesperson. Through Alex's analytical perspective, listeners gain insight into the complexities of merging artificial intelligence with diplomatic practices, highlighting both the potential efficiencies and the significant trust-related challenges that accompany such advancements.