[Balin] Secret's out

[BalinTheDwarf]

When Dan Brown's book The Secret of Secrets was published last month, Audible published an audiobook version. Less than a month later, the company has already updated the audiobook. Why?

As this is extremely current, please do not search anything about this online.

[Biograd1]

Was it updated because a mistake was found in the original audiobook (that would have always been viewed as a mistake, had it been known about)? because some world event has happened in the mean time that would change a listener's likely interpretation of the original audiobook due to context (e.g. create a misunderstanding that wouldn't have been made before, offend people who previously wouldn't have been offended, etc.)?

Is AI at all relevant to why it was updated?

[GalFisk]

In the update, were things: added? Removed? Replaced? Were words changed? Pronunciation?

[BalinTheDwarf]

Was it updated because a mistake was found in the original audiobook No (that would have always been viewed as a mistake, had it been known about)? No
because some world event has happened in the mean time that would change a listener's likely interpretation of the original audiobook due to context No (e.g. create a misunderstanding that wouldn't have been made before, offend people who previously wouldn't have been offended, etc.)? No

Is AI at all relevant to why it was updated? Yes

In the update, were things: added? Removed? Replaced? This (I assume; I haven't read or listened to the book)
Were words changed? Yes/b] Pronunciation? [b]No

[GalFisk]

Was the audio book recorded by a person? By AI? Both? Did AI make a mistake? Did a person do something deceptive? Is a recent AI development relevant? An AI company?

[BalinTheDwarf]

Was the audio book recorded by a person? This By AI? Both?
Did AI make a mistake? No Did a person do something deceptive? No Is a recent AI development relevant? I wouldn't say "recent," No An AI company? No

[Biograd1]

Was there something in the text of the book that might falsely lead listeners to think that it was written by AI? such as a character coincidentally having one of the names that ChatGPT "loves" to use repeatedly? Or alternatively, something about the audio specifically that made the voice sound suspiciously AI-like?

Was a note added to the audio to clarify that no AI had been used in the writing of the book? or that the book was read by a human for the audiobook? Was some sort of obfuscation added to the audio to try and thwart AI scrapers from assimilating it into their training set?

[BalinTheDwarf]

Was there something in the text of the book that might falsely lead listeners to think that it was written by AI? No such as a character coincidentally having one of the names that ChatGPT "loves" to use repeatedly? Clever idea (and I didn't know there were some), but No Or alternatively, something about the audio specifically that made the voice sound suspiciously AI-like? No

Was a note added to the audio to clarify that no AI had been used in the writing of the book? Not as far as I know or that the book was read by a human for the audiobook? Same Was some sort of obfuscation added to the audio to try and thwart AI scrapers from assimilating it into their training set? No

[Biograd1]

Did the general purpose of the change fall within the category of:

Stating that something wasn't, or was, AI-generated?
Expressing a stance/opinion about AI (or clarifying a stance, if something in the book could unintentionally be seen as expressing an opinion for or against it)?
Protecting something or someone from having work stolen by AI?
Preventing AI from being confused/misled by something in the audio that may cause it to malfunction if the audio is fed through it?

To clarify, we ARE talking about the current, "generative" AI (the kind that imitates human language, art, code, etc. and often at least claims to "understand" them)--NOT something like text-to-speech or speech-to-text (many of which now use AI/ML based technologies, but that in concept existed already well before the current AI wave).

[GalFisk]

Is generative AI relevant? If so, AI that generates: text? Speech? Music? Images? Moving images? Did the audio book update include: re-recording lines? Using another narrator? Using AI? Would updating the printed book make any sense in the context of the puzzle? Relevant who requested the update? If so, the author? Publisher? Narrator? WAG: did listening to the original audio book at home trigger people's voice-activated home automation systems, such as Siri or Alexa?

[BalinTheDwarf]

Skipping most of the questions because...

WAG: did listening to the original audio book at home trigger people's voice-activated home automation systems, such as Siri or Alexa? ...got it in one!

****SPOILER****

A character in The Secret of Secrets says, "Siri, call 911." That line in the audiobook caused listeners' Siris to (you guessed it) dial 911.