The voice is as important as the content – that is the key message from Cox in his new book, which deals with the subconscious judgements exercised by us
when we hear someone talking - taking in their pitch, accent, frequency and intonation.
“Accent is all about markers of a group,” said Cox. However, according to the Professor of Acoustic Engineering, these are shallow markers and we should look beyond them to understand the message fully.
Cox pointed out that women who take on leadership roles sometimes lower their voices, worried they may be stereotyped as being too shrill to be a leader. He said such prejudices are damaging to society because they reinforce unjust biases.
His book also looks at how artificial intelligence is used to mimic voices, and how these novel technological advancements have sparked an interesting debate into consent and privacy.
If you missed this, you might like to go to event number 225, Computational Biology, at 11.30 am, on 30 May.