Block's Dessa model learns to talk from human conversation
The speech-to-speech model shows some awkward and uncanny moments in its chats.
Models#04
Models
Image: The Verge
The short version
- Jack Dorsey's Block announced an AI model called Dessa.
- The company says Dessa is trained "from scratch on nothing but human conversation."
- Block shared chats with humans that can sometimes be a little awkward and uncanny.
- The team says Dessa can run locally on a MacBook Pro M4 Max "or better."
- The team plans to give "a small group of AI safety researchers" early access.
Why it matters
The team argues that today's voice AI flattens speech into text and cannot keep up with human timing. It also says voice AI is nearly deaf to emotion, which it frames as a safety problem. Developers building voice interfaces may find its speech-first approach worth watching.
“Speech is the most natural interface to any intelligence, super or otherwise, and today’s voice AI wastes it.”