Voice Engine can recreate a person’s voice from a 15-second recording. If you upload a recording of yourself and a paragraph of text, it can read the text using a synthetic voice that sounds like yours. - The New York Times
Among 400 others, “the list of stars who signed the letter includes actor Elliot Page, Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle, actress Elisha Cuthbert, folk music legend Neil Young, recent Grammy winner Allison Russell and the two surviving members of classic children's entertainment act Sharon, Lois and Bram." - CBC
But make no mistake: They’re coming at, and for, public resources as well. "Sometimes destruction from the inside via library boards is aided in part by city or county politics and sometimes, it’s those city or county politics that overtake the board and library altogether.” - Book Riot
"OpenAI suggested several steps that it thinks could limit the risks around tools like these, including phasing out voice-based authentication to access bank accounts, policies to protect the use of people’s voices in AI, greater education on AI deepfakes, and development of tracking systems of AI content." - The Verge
"The venue said the cancellation followed "recent publicity" after a letter from the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester (JRCGM)." - BBC
Disney on Wednesday reached a settlement in Florida and will no longer seek to retain its self-governance of Walt Disney World, a stunning turn in a battle with DeSantis that stretched more than two years. - Politico
Note that all of these centerings would be about things most consider good, and even crucial, but the question would be why the university, as a general rule, should make any of those things the essence of what an education should consist of. - The New York Times
Perhaps the frisson of cleverness (I know where that’s from!), or the flip-side cringe of ignorance (I should know where that’s from!), is enough to spur you to buy a book, the way a search-optimized headline compels you to click a link. - The New York Times
The 99-acre West Kowloon Cultural District was given a start-up fund (called an "endowment" there) of HK$21.6bn (US$2.8bn) by the enclave's government in 2008. That fund is projected to run out one year from now, potential rental income is limited, and no further state funding has been announced. - The Art Newspaper
"Allocations for fiscal year 2025 total $93.9 million, funding 669 different arts and culture projects or organizations. Just $32 million of that is allocated for grants overseen by the Florida Department of State’s Division of Cultural Affairs, while the rest is earmarked for what are known as member projects." - Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Creative Act is three books in one, really: a how-to for aspiring or faltering artists, an opening-up of Rubin’s own bag of tricks as a producer/cosmic facilitator, and an account of the spirituality that defines his method. - The Atlantic
The state's percent-for-art law, the oldest in the US (1967), requires 1% of the construction or renovation costs of state buildings to go to Hawaii's arts agency. A bill from the state House would have removed renovations from that requirement, reducing the agency's income by two-thirds. - Hawai'i Public Radio
The Tories have been weaponising the arts for their own purposes in the culture wars – an incredibly cynical and damaging thing to do, needlessly pulling arts organisations into enervating, debilitating rows as they fend off accusations of “wokery”. - The Guardian
Many Berliners are growing estranged from the cultural institutions our taxes fund. Hard as it is for someone like me to admit, economic hardships and the dwindling number of unclaimed spaces have forced many of us to be far more conservative than preceding generations. - Hyperallergic
They "are noticing in their best workers right now is the ability to recognise where opportunities and/ or learnings can be found in otherwise challenging situations, and use those perspectives to fuel new ideas for the whole team to consider." - ArtsHub
