“If accents can be understood as a kind of noise artefact, an auditory consequence of the enduring impressions of place, environment, sociality and body, ‘accent recognition’ software is an attempt to stabilize and categorise these artefacts.”
Dr. Thomson, M. (2020). PEDRO OLIVEIRA – There is a Point at Which Methods Devour Themselves. [online] Oliveira.work. Available at: https://oliveira.work/there-is-a-point-at-which-methods-devour-themselves/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2021].
I am absolutely terrified of surveillance, it’s a fear that has always been looming over me for such a long time, when I was younger I deleted my Facebook because I was paranoid that my information was being siphoned off and sold (which later was proven to be true to everyone) I closely follow news of facial recognition and ways that technology is being used to invade our private lives. The public space for me is sacred; it belongs to everyone and should act as a no man’s land where no one is above another and we should be able to simply exist in neutrality without being watched and judged.
I am in love with speech and voice, I think it’s such an incredible thing, that when hearing it, morphed or infected with glitches, there is a deep animalistic feeling I feel, recognising patterns is in our nature and it’s wonderful to hear it in all forms, even if emulated by computers and synths and such, I love hearing it.
I know that this new accent recognition technology will never be used on me, but I still fear for those that will suffer because of it. It has taken something as wonderful and unique as human speech and is using to further an ugly and vile status quo. I do worry I may be a luddite and that I should not be so closed off to new technologies, but in a world that is this right wing, that has stirred up a hatred of immigrants and “the other” I cannot see a way in which it becomes implemented in a safe way that doesn’t cause massive harm.