ENTERTAINMENT
Shin Hae-cheol returns as an AI voice
Next United, which holds all rights to the late Shin Hae-cheol's IP, unveiled the voice model 'AI New Hae-cheol' developed with artificial intelligence-based technology on the 3rd ahead of Shin Hae-cheol's 56th birthday and announced new activities in the future.
We found traces of preparations for a new season of radio 'Ghost Station' and a new opening signal on the PC left behind by the late Shin Hae-cheol, and decided that a more realistic voice reproduction was needed.
General artificial intelligence-based voice synthesis requires learning a certain amount of voice data to obtain the best results, but the 'AI New Haecheol' voice model started in an environment where new recording was not possible and reading the optimal voice learning script was impossible. Next United pre-processed the late Shin Hae-cheol's training data recorded in broadcasts, lectures, and performances, separately scripted almost all of the voices, and trained a voice artificial intelligence model based on this.
The pre-processing process of extracting important sentences from a total of 270 hours of audio data, reconstructing them into 6,757 sentences, removing noise and restoring degraded sound quality was carried out by Pearl Abyss, which has maintained a long-standing relationship, including erecting a statue of Shin Hae-cheol in the game 'Black Desert'. The level of completion was able to be improved through development support.
In addition, metadata that can distinguish voices was added to all data to build an artificial intelligence model, allowing it to go beyond simply imitating voices and express various tones and detailed emotions depending on the situation.
For the voice learning data, only Shin Hae-cheol's own words were used, and the learning and extract judgment and review were done by family members Shin Ha-yeon and Shin Dong-won, as well as photographer Kang Young-ho, who was close to him during his lifetime, so that the voices were not simply at a similar level, but were appropriate for each situation. He advised to embody the tone of voice and emotion accurately.
CEO Wonhee Yoon, who participated in the voice restoration as the CEO of Next United and as a family member, said, “The wishes of everyone who misses his voice and message brought the ‘AI New Hae-cheol’ voice model to the world,” and added, “A technological approach to restoring the voice is needed.” “Rather, I focused on creating a voice that resonated with what my family, friends, fans, and listeners wanted.”
The technology for pre-processing, learning, and extraction was developed by Namgoong Yeon, and broadcast writer Shin Byeong-jin, who translated and categorized all the training materials, said, "Ghost Station does not unilaterally convey the thoughts and philosophy of the late Shin Hae-cheol, but is a way to empathize with all listeners. Jang said, “The stories that will be retold through the ‘AI New Hae-cheol’ voice model will be able to capture the role of the devil that everyone wants.”
Using the 'AI New Hae-cheol' voice model as an opportunity, Next United plans to prepare not only a new season of Ghost Station but also various contents containing messages left by Demon King Shin Hae-cheol.
The AI voice of the late Demon King Shin Hae-cheol will be released on YouTube's 'Shin Hae-cheol Official Channel TV' on the afternoon of the 3rd.
Reporter Lee Min-kyung, Ten Asia 2min_ror@tenasia.co.kr
