Mark Zuckerberg’s unveiling of his year-long (technically, just over 100 hours) project yesterday caused quite a stir online and off, with many relishing in the future of AI he metaphorically painted with his version of Jarvis.
While his note went pretty in-depth into the technical bits, and what Jarvis can do, most of the action was taking place in our heads, with the aid of .gifs and a short demo on FastCompany’s exclusive interview.
Well, not anymore.
“After A Year Of Coding, Here’s Jarvis”
A few hours ago, Zuckerberg whetted all our appetites with a ‘fun summary’ (which he clarifies, isn’t a ‘live demo’) of the features of Jarvis – almost all of which were covered in his note.
(A follow-up video featuring his wife Priscilla Chan’s experience was also posted a few hours later.)
Not taking ‘fun’ lightly, the video was punctuated with dad jokes, aww-inducing moments between his wife and daughter…and a jibe at rock band Nickelback, an online troll-favourite.
In all, the video was impeccably polished, but the punchlines…not so much, and has even led writer Chaim Gartenberg from The Verge to call out on the overall cringiness of the video.
Though to be honest, we can’t help but agree.
Jarvis Has The ‘Voice Of God’
Regardless, the part that got everyone excited was the unveiling of Jarvis’ voice.
Bringing life to Jarvis was actor Morgan Freeman, which has been dubbed to possess the ‘voice of god’, all thanks to his portrayal of said divine figure in movies Bruce Almighty (2003) and Evan Almighty (2007).
The choice was not solely Zuckerberg’s though, as he had asked his Facebook followers about who should voice Jarvis.
Actor Robert Downey Jr., who had successfully brought the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man to life with his acute portrayal of the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, had volunteered to “do [it] in a heartbeat” if fellow actor Paul Bettany, the voice of Stark’s Jarvis, got paid, and the money was donated to a cause of fellow actor Benedict Cumberbatch’s charity of choice.
However, the public vote still went to Morgan Freeman, which Zuckerberg revealed to FastCompany that “at first he had no expectation [Jarvis] would end up being [him]”.
After a phone call and a casual “Yeah, sure.” from Freeman, Zuckerberg’s Jarvis has now become another notch in the former’s belt of voice acting.
“This Has Been Fun, But I Need Some More Ideas For Jarvis”
At the end of the video, Zuckerberg calls for viewers to leave a comment on what they wish to see on Jarvis, and promises that he “will try to build something”.
And some have already responded to his call for suggestions:
From fetching their essential items, to preparing food for them, to motion trackers being able to sense if they need help (if they have fallen down/had a stroke etc.), there are many positive changes that can be made with the technology.
What would your suggestions for the AI be? Let us know!