Ebert test

{{Short description|Test of a voice synthesizer's ability to deliver a joke}}

Image:Boutte and Ebert.jpg in September 2002, shortly after his cancer diagnosis]]

The Ebert test gauges whether a computer-based synthesized voice{{cite news |author= JENNIFER 8. LEE |title= Roger Ebert Tests His Vocal Cords, and Comedic Delivery |newspaper= The New York Times |quote= Now perhaps, there is the Ebert Test, a way to see if a synthesized voice can deliver humor with the timing to make an audience laugh.... He proposed the Ebert Test as a way to gauge the humanness of a synthesized voice. |date= March 7, 2011 |url= http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/roger-ebert-tests-his-vocal-cords-and-comedic-delivery/?src=me |accessdate= 2011-09-12 }} can tell a joke with sufficient skill to cause people to laugh.{{cite news |title= Roger Ebert's Inspiring Digital Transformation |publisher= Tech News |quote= Meanwhile, the technology that enables Ebert to "speak" continues to see improvements – for example, adding more realistic inflection for question marks and exclamation points. In a test of that, which Ebert called the "Ebert test" for computerized voices, |date= March 5, 2011 |url= http://www.tips-tricks.co.in/2011/03/roger-eberts-inspiring-digital.html |accessdate= 2011-09-12 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110325160035/http://www.tips-tricks.co.in/2011/03/roger-eberts-inspiring-digital.html |archive-date= March 25, 2011 |url-status= dead }} It was proposed by film critic Roger Ebert at the 2011 TED conference as a challenge to software developers to have a computerized voice master the inflections, delivery, timing, and intonations of a speaking human.{{cite news |author= Adam Ostrow |title= Roger Ebert's Inspiring Digital Transformation |publisher= Mashable Entertainment|quote= With the help of his wife, two colleagues and the Alex-equipped MacBook that he uses to generate his computerized voice, famed film critic Roger Ebert delivered the final talk at the TED conference on Friday in Long Beach, California.... |date= March 5, 2011 |url= http://mashable.com/2011/03/05/roger-ebert-ted-talk/ |accessdate= 2011-09-12 }} The test is similar to the Turing test proposed by Alan Turing in 1950 as a way to gauge a computer's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior by generating performance indistinguishable from a human being.{{cite news |author= Alex_Pasternack |title= A MacBook May Have Given Roger Ebert His Voice, But An iPod Saved His Life (Video) |publisher= Motherboard |quote= He calls it the "Ebert Test," after Turing's AI standard... |date= Apr 18, 2011 |url= http://www.motherboard.tv/2011/4/18/a-macbook-may-have-given-roger-ebert-his-voice-but-an-ipod-saved-his-life-video |accessdate= 2011-09-12 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110906063605/http://motherboard.tv/2011/4/18/a-macbook-may-have-given-roger-ebert-his-voice-but-an-ipod-saved-his-life-video |archive-date= September 6, 2011 |url-status= dead }}

{{quote|If the computer can successfully tell a joke, and do the timing and delivery as well as Henny Youngman, then that's the voice I want.|Ebert in 2011}}

Ebert lost his voice after surgery to treat cancer. He employed a Scottish company called CereProc, which custom-tailors text-to-speech software for voiceless customers who record their voices at length before losing them, and mined tapes and DVD commentaries featuring Ebert to create a voice that sounded more like his own voice.Jones, Chris. [http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310 "Roger Ebert: The Essential Man"]. Esquire magazine. February 16, 2010] He first publicly used the voice they devised for him in his March 2, 2010, appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/hello-this-is-me-speaking|title=Hello, this is me speaking | Interviews | Roger Ebert|first=Roger|last=Ebert|website=www.rogerebert.com|date=14 December 2012 }}Tucker, Ken. [http://watching-tv.ew.com/2010/03/02/oprah-roger-ebert-oscars/ "'Oprah': Roger Ebert predicts the Oscars, movingly: 'No more surgery for me'"]. Entertainment Weekly. March 2, 2010