Evan takes his experiment in a new direction by having his AI-powered voice agent converse with … another of his AI-powered voice agents. What can these surreal and hilarious conversations between two AI incarnations of Evan Ratliff tell us about identity, authenticity, and the best and worst of human interaction? Enter this digital hall of mirrors to find out. Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe
Hi.
It is my pleasure to be here with you all today.
In those 13 syllables, you all just made judgments about me, about my socioeconomic status, my intelligence level, and whether or not you're going to sit here and listen to me for the next 10 to 12 minutes based primarily on the perception of my voice.
That's Dr.
Wendy Leborgne, a voice pathologist, speaking at a TEDX conference in Cincinnati back in 2018.
Leborgne is a researcher and consultant who works with everyone from Broadway actors to Grammy winning singers to CEOs on maintaining and maximizing their voices.
As you might expect, she's big on the idea that your voice is a central part of your identity.
Her TED talk was titled Vocal how youw Voice Shapes yous Communication Image.
Your voice is like your thumbprint or your facial features.
It is unique and authentically you.
There is in fact, a decent amount of research looking into this question about what your voice means to you and to how people perceive you.
I've reported on voice forensics before, and the truth is we're not as great at detecting voices as we think we are.
But at the same time, your voice undoubtedly broadcasts a huge amount of unique information about you.
It helps dictate how others perceive you, both in the moment, with its level of strength and emotion in any given conversation, and longer term in what it conveys about your age, where you're from, and your overall temperament.
Your voice is your calling card and it is the most important element in your personal brand.
I don't know if I'd go as far as Dr.
Le Borne, but I do think I've always wanted to believe this idea that your voice is a central part of who you are.
When I was in the 11th grade, my English teacher told me I had a voice for radio.
I took it to heart that I must somehow have a voice that at least wasn't unpleasant to listen to.
It's probably one reason I ended up talking to you.