E10: The AI Voice Revolution with Mahmoud Felfel of Play.ht

The development of ultra-realistic human voices is upon us, and Mahmoud Felfel's company Play.ht is leading the next generation of text-to-voice models. In this episode, we discuss the challenges and opportunities of automating a more human voice, as well as concerns about deep fakes and user safety. We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com . RECOMMENDED PODCAST: The HR industry is at a crossroads. What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact? Hosts Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich have been through it all, the highs and the lows – IPOs, layoffs, executive turnover, board meetings, culture changes, and more. With a lineup of industry vets and experts, Nolan and Kelli break down the nitty-gritty details, trade offs, and dynamics of constructing high performing companies. Through unfiltered conversations that can only happen between seasoned practitioners, Kelli and Nolan dive deep into the kind of leadership-level strategy that often happens behind closed doors. Check out the first episode with the architect of Netflix’s culture deck Patty McCord. https://link.chtbl.com/hrheretics Timestamps: (0:00) Preview of Mahmoud on this episode (0:55) Sponsor: Omneky.com (1:45) Nathan clones his voice using Play.ht (6:11) Why Mahmoud started Play.ht and the problem they tried to solve (13:08) The job to be done for Play.ht & how they’re thinking about APIs and models (24:45) Mahmoud breaks down the architecture of Play.ht (29:30) How the use cases have evolved (30:00) New markets and opportunities with creators (37:00) Are we all about to become prompt engineers/directors? (44:50) Roadmap to other languages beyond English (48:00) Managing the compute(52:00) If AI-generated voices becomes a commodity, what will happen? (55:00) Why bigger companies are late adopters of AI tools (56:30) The long-term moat of Play.ht and other applications (1:00:00) Controversial voice-cloning and potential for societal abuse (1:10:32) Commonly abused voices (1:12:36) Rapid fire questions SPONSORS: SHOPIFY | OMNEKY Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of ALL eCommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries.From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/cognitive *Thank you Omneky for sponsoring The Cognitive Revolution. Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work, customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real-time advertising data. Mention "Cog Rev" for 10% off.* Twitter: @CogRev_Podcast @_mfelfel (Mahmoud) @labenz (Nathan) Join 1000's of subscribers of our Substack: https://cognitiverevolution.substack Websites: cognitivervolution.ai play.ht omneky.com This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co .