{"product_id":"vox-ex-machina-isbn-9780262546355","title":"Vox ex Machina","description":"\u003cb\u003eHow today’s digital devices got their voices, and how we learned to listen to them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom early robots to toys like the iconic Speak \u0026amp; Spell to Apple’s Siri, \u003ci\u003eVox Ex Machina\u003c\/i\u003e tells the fascinating story of how scientists and engineers developed voices for machines during the twentieth century. Sarah Bell chronicles the development of voice synthesis from buzzy electrical current and circuitry in analog components to the robotic sounds of early digital signal processing to today’s human sounding applications. Along the way, Bell also shows how the public responded to these technologies and asks whether talking machines are even good for us. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUsing a wide range of intriguing examples, \u003ci\u003eVox Ex Machina\u003c\/i\u003e is embedded in a wider story about people—describing responses to voice synthesis technologies that often challenged prevailing ideas about computation and automation promoted by boosters of the Information Age. Bell helps explain why voice technologies came to sound and to operate in the way they do—influenced as they were by a combination of technical assumptions and limitations, the choices of the corporations that deploy them, and the habits that consumers developed over time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA beautifully written book that will appeal to anyone with a healthy skepticism toward Silicon Valley, \u003ci\u003eVox Ex Machina\u003c\/i\u003e is an important and timely contribution to our cultural histories of information, computing, and media.Contents\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003ePrologue\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e1   Voder (1939)\u003cbr\u003e2   Electronic Vocal Tract (1950)\u003cbr\u003e3   Am-Quote (1964)\u003cbr\u003e4   Speak \u0026amp; Spell (1978)\u003cbr\u003e5   Perfect Paul (1979)\u003cbr\u003e6   S.A.M. the Software Automatic Mouth (1982)\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue: When Will Siri Laugh?\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003cb\u003eIncluded in \u003ci\u003ethe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Books of 2024\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eVox ex Machina\u003c\/i\u003e is a terrific tour of the technologies behind an artificially intelligent synthetic human voice.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Jill Lepore, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“\u003ci\u003eVox ex Machina \u003c\/i\u003eshowcases both the products of voice synthesis and the underlying technologies that made them possible. It’s a fascinating tour, particularly when Bell focuses on the ways in which the public’s reaction to these ‘talking machines’ presaged its reaction to the ‘thinking’ ones that would emerge decades later.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—MIT Technology Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“This is a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable book for anyone interested in history of human-electronic machine interaction, electronic sound, communication, the history of technology, popular media, and the social implications and impact of contemporary personal electronics and digital assistants.”\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eH-Net Reviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Vox ex Machina\u003c\/i\u003e traces the scientific, social, and cultural dynamics that shape synthesized voices as consumer products. Bell’s engaging narrative raises vital social, economic, and political questions about our interactions with artificial voice technologies.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Meredith A. Bak, Associate Professor of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University–Camden; author of \u003ci\u003ePlayful Visions\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Authoritative and thoughtful, Bell’s \u003ci\u003eVox ex Machina\u003c\/i\u003e centers electronic voice synthesis as consequential technology. A history that ‘speaks’ to the deeper motivations and repercussions of language simulation in the computer age.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Andrew Meade McGee, Curator of Computing, Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A thought-provoking history at the intersection of technology and popular culture.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Joseph Turow, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Voice Catchers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eSarah A. Bell is a writer and professor who studies the impacts of information technologies on society. She earned a PhD in Communication from the University of Utah in 2015.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305032667365,"sku":"NP9780262546355","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262546355.jpg?v=1767743524","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/vox-ex-machina-isbn-9780262546355","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}