Photo credit: OpenAI

Artificial intelligence company OpenAI has recently announced that it has rolled out the Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) for its Plus and Team tier users in the ChatGPT platform. 

According to ChatGPT’s announcement, the new AVM includes added custom instructions, memory, five new voices, and improved accents for a smoother auditory experience. Through the AVM, users can have a conversation with ChatGPT to create a more “natural interaction,” and the AI tool would receive a spoken response. 

The new audio feature was supposed to be deployed earlier this year; however, the AI company delayed its release. In its announcement, ChatGPT apologized for the delay by humorously claiming, “It can also say, 'Sorry, I’m late,' in over 50 languages.”

ChatGPT users on the Plus or Team Tier will see a notification in the app confirming that they have received access to Advanced Voice.

With the addition of five new voices, ChatGPT’s new audio tool has a total of nine “lifelike” output voices with their own distinct tone and character: Arbor, Breeze, Cove, Ember, Juniper, Maple, Sol, Spruce, and Vale.  

Although the voice chat has interesting features, it does come with limitations. ChatGPT mentioned the users have a daily limit usage and they will be notified when they have 15 minutes left of advanced voice for the day.

OpenAI claimed that the advanced voice is not yet available to the users residing in the European Union, UK, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. 

ChatGPT’s voice feature has faced criticism in the past, with controversy arising from claims that one of the voices imitated actress Scarlett Johansson. When OpenAI introduced one of the voices named “Sky,” users claimed it sounded similar to Johansson’s character in the movie “Her.” 

However, OpenAI denied rumors, stating there was no connection between Johansson and its Sky voice. With the risk of a lawsuit looming, OpenAI later removed the Sky voice from its platform.