Voiceprint technology: A commercial hit with military utility

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.

Read more: Israel's Silicon Valley on the brink of collapse

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.

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.

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.