Researchers from the University of California San Diego recently built a machine learning system that predicts what a bird’s about to sing as they’re singing it. The big idea here is real-time speech synthesis for vocal prosthesis. But the implications could go much further. Up front: Birdsong is a complex form of communication that involves rhythm, pitch, and, most importantly, learned behaviors. According to the researchers, teaching an AI to understand these songs is a valuable step in training systems that can replace biological human vocalizations: While limb-based motor prosthetic systems have leveraged nonhuman primates as an important animal model,…

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