Just weeks after Meta revealed its AI voices, it seems we're all going wild for celebrity AI as ElevenLabs and DeepReel are collaborating to create an AI version of Fernando Alonso, the two-time World Champion F1 driver currently racing for Aston Martin Aramco.
'Ai.lonso' (I admit I laughed) "will make the team’s content more accessible and further personalize fan engagement," the ElevenLabs blog post explains (which is a lot of nothing, really — until you see it in motion).
They have combined ElevenLabs voice cloning — which has already been used to let James Dean read Peter Pan — with DeepReel's AI avatar technology to bring AI.lonso to life.
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The Aston Martin F1 team has published its own rundown of Ai.lonso, saying it's "designed to make our website more accessible and to further personalize our fan engagement."
It builds on ElevenLabs own Audio Native platform that lets you add an embedded player to your news website or blog, using text-to-speech to give voice to your written words.
Aston Martin expands, adding: "On the team's official website, you'll be able to use the all-new text-to-speech functionality to hear Ai.lonso — the AI voice of Fernando – read out selected articles in multiple languages, starting with English, Spanish and French, with more languages to come."
This is one of the most powerful features of synthetic voice, and something causing alarm among acting unions. It can translate words into any language and keep the accent and tone of the original speaker.
You can test it already, with the 'Ai.lonso player' available on an interview-style piece with the man himself. It sounds relatively natural, and the AI shifts perspective to discuss itself in first-person.
We have some of the most passionate fans in the world, and connecting with them is very important to me. This is a great opportunity to interact with our fans further through multiple languages.
The real Ferdinand Alonso
The real Fernando Alonso said in a statement: “The AI content tool is an exciting project for me and the team. I am delighted to launch Ai.lonso to our global fanbase."
He expanded on this, adding: "We have some of the most passionate fans in the world, and connecting with them is very important to me. This is a great opportunity to interact with our fans further through multiple languages.”
Which sports superstar is next, then? Give me a Thierry Henry AI any day. Outside of sport, ElevenLabs recently added Deepak Chopra to its iPhone app, bringing a new twist to meditation and affirmations on the go.
