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In the never-ending battle to know what is real and what is created artificial intelligence, NordVPN It has a new browser tool that can help you separate human voices from fake ones.
NordVPN’s new tool listens for audio from your open browser window and alerts you if it detects a human or AI voice. The feature is currently only available on NordVPN Chrome browser extensionand you’ll need to enable the tool to start detecting sounds on websites in real time.
It is not clear when the tool will be rolled out to other extensions, e.g Firefox and edgeor plans that include AI Voice Detector. NordVPN did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment. In the meantime, here’s what we know about the tool and how it works.
How NordVPN’s AI voice detector works
NordVPN partnered with cybersecurity experts at NordLabs and tested real and AI-generated audio. The tool uses an artificial intelligence model to distinguish between the two types of sounds, according to Thursday’s announcement.
Here’s how it works. You’ll enable the feature in your Chrome extension, and the AI sound detector will run in the background in the open tab. You’ll receive an update on the extension’s Sound Detector results, and a pop-up window that will display one of three colors of sound:
- green: It’s a human voice.
- Amber: They will likely be generated by artificial intelligence.
- red: It is a voice generated by artificial intelligence.
NordVPN’s ad says that the detector can’t hear what’s being said and that it only analyzes audio characteristics. The tool is unable to understand, record or interpret conversations. You’ll hear the audio as usual while NordVPN’s detector analyzes it. If you turn off detection or close the active tab, NordVPN will tell you that all audio buffers will be ignored. Nothing will be stored.
NordVPN also required the tool’s security measures, including not collecting your identity, browsing history, cookies, or account information. All of this makes me wonder about the false positive rate, since NordVPN analyzes votes, not conversations.
Watch this: Artificial intelligence is indistinguishable from reality. How do we detect fake videos?
How useful is the AI sound detector?
There are several Artificial intelligence detectors onlinebut some of it is garbage. They can produce false positives (saying that something is artificial intelligence when it is not) or false negatives (saying that something is human when it is artificial intelligence) due to their inherent limitations.
In most cases, there are no watermarks or signatures guaranteed to indicate that something was generated by AI. Some tools like Artificial intelligence leak detectorand build more trust by presenting their work, and pointing out red flags on which they base their conclusions.
NordVPN may at least bring more uncertainty and transparency to users, says CNET editor Moe Long.
“There is a lot of AI-powered audio out there, and some of it may be increasingly difficult to recognize by the human ear,” Long says. “NordVPN’s AI audio detector appears to be useful because it can help people determine whether a particular audio is AI-generated or not, which could provide multiple benefits, from providing transparency around voice comments in YouTube videos and on social media to avoiding scams.”
Read more: AI Slop is destroying the Internet. These are the people fighting to save her
AI-generated sounds are increasingly being used in predatory ways, such as creativity Deep fake people for fraud purposes. Even a hint that not every voice you hear on the Internet is real can help you spot a scam.
Long also likes that NordVPN’s AI audio detector seems to offer guarantees that analyze audio while maintaining privacy.
NordVPN received high marks for CNET, with an 8.8 out of 10 in its CNET score. The VPN company is praised for its speed, useful privacy features, and large international server network. However, it does not meet the renewal pricing and limited control of split tunneling Android devices.
