Voiceprint technology: A commercial hit with military utility

Voiceprint technology may make artificial intelligence more secure, but it raises fresh questions of its own

Nicola Ferrarese

Al Majalla looks at how voiceprint technology works, how it has already been used and what might lie ahead for what could be an important part of our AI-driven future.

Voiceprint technology: A commercial hit with military utility

Marco Mossad

last update on 07 Feb 2024

An emerging means of online security could prove to be one of the safest means of controlling fast-developing artificial intelligence applications, assuaging some of the deeper worries over AI’s potential threat but raising new dangers of its own.

Voiceprint technology may offer a safe way of controlling access to AI. Already in use in the military, it can ensure that only designated controllers can issue spoken instructions to AI-operated tech.

It works by converting the human voice into data used as a unique signature for the person concerned, which can then verify who is giving the orders.

Al Majalla looks at how voiceprint technology works, how it has already been used and what might lie ahead for what could be an important part of our AI-driven future.

As well as running live on the battlefield, voiceprint is also being used to improve the quality of military intelligence. It has been deployed in the Gaza war, analysing material to help assess its quality via accurate material analysis.

Its biometric blend of security and accuracy means voiceprint offers a way around some of the well-documented concerns over AI’s potential existential-level risk to humanity.

65 million voices and counting

In the meantime, it is already proving itself in the commercial world, with around 65 million voices covered so far. Companies, including major banks and airlines, run voiceprint to authenticate customer identities.

Its biometrics already offer customers faster and more secure access to sensitive data or applications than traditional methods, such as passwords or PIN codes.

Both have long been vulnerable to cybercriminals running phishing campaigns to steal passwords or crack them using so-called brute force attacks.

How does it work?

There are currently two main types of voiceprint technology. One is text-dependent, and the other is text-independent.

Text-dependent voiceprint tech identity is verified when a person reads a pre-prepared text. This is the same technique used to teach speech recognition AI-based apps.

The voiceprint is not recognised if the AI detects a difference in how the person reads the text. Non-text-dependent tech is more flexible and screens for a voiceprint without using specific words.

Text-dependent voiceprint is verified when a person reads a pre-prepared text. Non-text-dependent tech screens for a voiceprint without using specific words.

Military utility

There are already potential military applications for voiceprint tech, even before it may be needed to control access to the more warlike aspects of AI.

Voiceprint-protected documents have a higher level of biometric security attached, meaning they can be more widely distributed without compromising safety.

It can also be used to help verify the quality of the material. In assessing the authenticity of speakers, it can help ensure the intelligence is accurate. This is how technology is already being, including during the war in Gaza.

Reports indicate that the Israeli army tracked Hamas leaders through their phones, listened to their calls with relatives and family members, and then recorded each voice, creating their unique voiceprints in databases.

The Israeli military built a huge voice library for Hamas leaders, which is analysed in seconds using machine learning and artificial intelligence during eavesdropping operations. Call tracking can identify the location of targeted people via coordinates from the three nearest wireless carrier towers.

Analysts attribute the success of tracking people through voiceprint to the technological capabilities of the occupying Israeli army.

However, reports have emerged that Israel used British spy planes to provide Tel Aviv with the voiceprints of many Hamas leaders.

The voiceprint method was used to assist in locating Osama bin Laden. The United States can collect the prints of millions of voices, save them in databases, and analyse them quickly and accurately.

Getty Images — US Army soldiers record biometric data for those entering Afghanistan, August 2011.

US military personnel also use voiceprint technology to keep command and control and procedures secure, including for drones. The system that controls these unmanned attack vehicles or intelligence gathers is called "Anura". It makes operating the technology much easier, increasing its effectiveness.

The US military has used devices capable of handling voice commands since 2017, allowing soldiers to easily access important information, view maps to navigate around minefields, or transmit messages.

The military has also developed a translation system to and from English by working with commercial US tech firms. It listens to individuals speaking languages other than English and provides accurate and real-time translation to soldiers.

Capable of distinguishing between 70 languages and even dialects, it uses a small device worn on soldiers' chests and does not need an internet connection to work.

Innovation v privacy

Voiceprint technology has many applications in day-to-day lives away from the military. But many of them may come at the expense of privacy.

Voiceprint technology has many applications in day-to-day life, many of which may come at the expense of privacy.

Analysts have expressed concerns that how the technology may harness what amounts to personal information to train AI is not subject to regulation over how it may be used or shared.

And there are very real risks over what might happen should the security around voiceprint itself ever be breached by cybercriminals. Should they acquire voiceprint keys, they could get access to anything and everything the technology protects.

Whatever may be ahead, there is no doubt that AI and related tech, including voiceprint, are a new field that has attracted huge investments. Countries have strategic interests in keeping up with the latest developments in this area for political and economic purposes.

Due to the novelty of the technology, it has no internationally accepted legal framework around it. Where there are national laws, there are significant differences between them over AI.

While there are some areas of progress in this respect, including the European Union's AI laws, more needs to be done on a global basis to protect against the threats of unlimited machine intelligence.

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