
Music streaming platform, Spotify, revealed that it has patented speech-recognition technology to analyze the user’s voice and suggest songs based on “emotional state, gender, age, or accent.”
The patent, filed in 2018 and granted in January 2021, would allow the company to extract deeper and more accurate information from users’ audible surroundings, emotional state, and the like. Although the new development won’t be released in full anytime soon—if the company does decide to release it—Music Business Worldwide reports that Spotify has been extensively working on exploring this technology to provide a more personalized experience for its subscribers.
This is one of the latest updates from tech companies that are investing in voice-analyzing technology. Which basically implies that someday, everything we say around our phones would then be used to track our interests, moods, beliefs, and perhaps even our entire personality. Something that, if you’re observant, you might have already been noticing here and there when Facebook pulls out ads about something you were just talking about with your friend, or when your phone gets push notifications from delivery apps after saying some triggering keywords like “milk tea,” or “chicken wings” to name a few.
Technology, as ever-evolving as it is, has always been equal parts exciting and terrifying. Especially with something as intimate as voice and speech recognition, which makes a lot of things all the more convenient and efficient, but also very intrusive at the same time.
Bring in the Black Mirror foreshadowings.
However, in terms of technology that could give us more mood-appropriate music suggestions, this possible future development for Spotify’s in-app features definitely presents some perks.
Just imagine that next time you’re having an emotional breakdown and you want to amp up your anxieties—don’t lie, we’re all guilty of that one—with the perfect background music to set the right crying mood. Or, if you’re at a house party with friends and in need of something to boost the energy in the room to get people into the makeshift dance floor.
There’s definitely a lot of advantages to these technological advancements. But the real question is, how far will these go in making our society entirely revolve around the digital space? If we’re not there already.
More personalized song suggestions aside, if there’s one thing Black Mirror taught us, there’s always a price to pay with technology.
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