Thanks to AI, this Hollywood star of yore can make you 'nice & comfortable' with a bedtime story
bedtime story. And you want that someone to be actor Jimmy Stewart.
The sleep and meditation app Calm on Tuesday released a new story for premium users told by Stewart, the beloved actor who starred in 'It's a Wonderful Life.' But the voice in their ear lulling them to sleep is not from Stewart, who died in 1997.
It is a version of his signature drawl generated by artificial intelligence.
«Well, hello. I'm James Stewart, but, well, you can call me Jimmy.
Tonight I'm going to tell you a story,» the clone of Stewart's voice begins, telling listeners to make themselves «nice and comfortable.»
«It's a heartwarming story of love, of loss, of hope and of joy,» the voice continues. «But most of all, it's a wonderful sleep story.»
The app is known for its 'Sleep Stories' — tales read by celebrities including Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey and Harry Styles to help users drift off to sleep.
But for its Stewart story, it enlisted the help of Respeecher, a company based in Ukraine that uses AI technology to produce synthetic speech and clone voices.
The story, written by Calm's creative team, is the first of its celebrity narrations to use an AI-generated voice, a spokesperson for the app said Tuesday, adding that the company collaborated closely with the actor's estate on the project. «Stewart is one of the most beloved actors in history, with a voice that is heartwarming to many,» the spokesperson said in an email.
Respeecher said that CMG Worldwide, the company that manages Stewart's licensing, approved the project.
