'Give it time' - ScotRail defends AI announcer Iona

'Give it time' - ScotRail defends AI announcer Iona

A new synthetic voice is being introduced across Scotland's trains to deliver onboard announcements.

ScotRail Urges Patience as New AI Announcer ‘Iona’ Faces Backlash – Scottish Business News

ScotRail is asking passengers to give their new AI announcer “time to grow on you” following mixed reactions to the synthetic voice now being trialled on some routes. The new voice, named Iona, replaces traditional pre-recorded messages by a human voice actor with a text-to-speech AI model, developed by global technology company ReadSpeaker. The change aims to improve efficiency and flexibility in delivering real-time announcements – but it hasn…