ChatGPT just got chattier.

Users can now talk out loud to the AI chatbot and it will answer back with its own synthesised voice.

The feature is part of an upgrade to the mobile app and follows in the footsteps of voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri.

ChatGPT has been given five different voices – both male and female – that were trained on actors hired by OpenAI, the US company behind the technology.

The firm claims they are far more realistic than rival voice assistants – and is looking at allowing users to create their own in the future.

ChatGPT users can now talk out loud to the AI chatbot and it will answer back with its own synthesised voice

Spotify has announced it is trialling the technology to translate podcasts into other languages, with an AI-generated imitation of the original host’s voice.

Voice assistants like Alexa and Siri have long allowed people to interact with their devices through their smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

But chatbots have far more powerful language skills, with the ability to instantly write emails, poetry, and riff on any topic.

OpenAI believes talking is a more natural way of interacting with ChatGPT and is rolling out the feature to everyone who subscribes to its ‘Plus’ edition, costing £16 a month.

The feature is part of an upgrade to the mobile app and follows in the footsteps of voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri (Stock image) 

Joanne Jang, a product manager at OpenAI, told MIT Technology Review: ‘In fashioning the voices, the number-one criterion was whether this is a voice you could listen to all day.’

‘We’re trying to make ChatGPT more useful and more helpful,’ she added.

As part of the upgrade, OpenAI also announced ChatGPT can also now understand pictures. 

By uploading or taking a photo, ChatGPT will respond with a description of it.

In one demo, the company showed the chatbot a picture of a child’s maths homework with a Sudoku-like puzzle and asked how to solve it. ChatGPT replied with the correct steps.

ChatGPT’s image recognition ability has already been trialed by a company called Be My Eyes, which makes an app for people with impaired vision, helping them work out what’s in front of them.

Britain’s representative on the bank’s board is Sir Danny Alexander, the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Government is being ‘played for fools’ and must freeze ties with Beijing’s answer to the World Bank, according to a top official who left the organisation over allegations it was controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

Bob Pickard recently resigned as communications chief for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which the British taxpayer funds to the tune of £2.5 billion, claiming it was ‘dominated’ by Party apparatchiks.

The Beijing-based lender finances projects in developing countries – many of them allied to China.

But the Government’s ties with the AIIB have become increasingly controversial as fears grow about Beijing’s expansionist policies, its involvement in key UK industries such as telecoms and nuclear and, latterly, concerns about ‘Chinese spies’ in Westminster.

The UK’s involvement with the AIIB dates back to David Cameron’s coalition between 2010 and 2015, which was keen to curry favour with the Chinese, viewing them as potentially lucrative trade partners.

Britain’s representative on the bank’s board is Sir Danny Alexander, the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury in Cameron’s government. 

Pickard, who is Canadian, told The Mail on Sunday that UK membership of the AIIB ‘makes China look good’ but the West ‘shouldn’t sign up for that’.

AIIB employees like Alexander, he added, were ‘feather-bedded ex-pats in highly compensated positions’ who enjoyed ‘a good living’ but were only there to give the bank credibility and act as ‘window-dressing’.

‘They are being used by the bank for the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda purposes,’ he added.

‘They have co-opted many useful idiots. We have to open our eyes to this reality. We’re being played for fools.’

Canada has paused its membership of the AIIB while it investigates Pickard’s claims. Asked if the UK should do the same, Pickard said: ‘Everyone has to look in the mirror, connect the dots and decide for themselves.’

The AIIB has more than 100 member nations – including Russia – and is run by Jin Liqun, formerly of the Communist Red Guards.

Western nations including the US and Japan have declined to join the bank, which counts China as its largest shareholder.

Last night Lord Alton of Liverpool, a crossbench peer who has been banned from China, called on Britain to review it membership of the bank. 

He said: ‘It is reprehensible to be oiling the wheels of organisations linked to this totalitarian regime and lining their pockets with UK taxpayers’ money. The AIIB is basically a state-linked bank funding projects which further the interests of the Chinese Communist Party.’

A recent report by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee found it was ‘possible’ Alexander’s appointment to the AIIB board – and Cameron’s role at a £1 billion China-UK investment fund – ‘were in some part engineered by the Chinese state to lend credibility to Chinese investment, as well as to the broader China brand’.

One of the projects funded by the AIIB involves a firm with links to alleged abuses of Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province.

A Treasury spokesman said the AIIB’s internal review found Pickard’s allegations were ‘unsubstantiated’. ‘We will continue to work with the AIIB and partners to support robust governance and processes at the AIIB,’ he added.

The AIIB and Alexander were contacted for comment.

It might be the month of failed health kicks and exercise plans.

But January is still the best time to diet, research suggests.

Dieters who try to lose weight at the start of the year see the most weight fall off, a study found.

Those starting a diet in January lose 5.6lbs (2.54kg) on average, compared to 3.5lbs (1.61kg) in the summer.

Experts believe the motivated, ‘fresh start’ mentality may be behind the success of New Year diets.

On the other hand, they concede summer holidays may make it difficult to stick to healthy habits.

For those who try to lose weight at the start of the year see the most weight fall off compared to other times of the year. Those starting a diet in January lose 5.6lbs (2.5kg) on average, compared to as little as 3.5lbs (1.6kg) in the summer

Experts believe the motivated, ‘fresh start’ mentality may be behind the success of New Year diets

Oxford University researchers, led by dietitian Dr Dimitrios Koutoukidis, noted that weight loss is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions.

But with people in their droves confessing to ditching their planned health kick, it is unclear whether attempting to shed weight at the start of the year is more successful than other points in the calendar, the researchers said.

To get to the bottom of this, they monitored 85,514 people in England, aged 65 on average, who started the NHS Diabetes Prevention Program between January 2017 and December 2018.

Participants had high blood sugar but had not yet developed diabetes.

They attended face-to-face or online sessions where they were encouraged to follow a healthier diet, exercise more and lose weight. 

The results, published in the journal Obesity, show that the group lost 4.4lbs (2kg) over six months, on average, equating to 2.3 per cent of their body weight.

However, those who started dieting in January lost more weight than those starting a new health regime at any other time of the year. 

Overall, those who began dieting in January lost 12 to 30 per cent more weight than those who started at other times of year, the team concluded.

August was the least successful month, followed by July (1.65kg), September (1.79kg) and December (1.83kg).

The researchers noted that their findings are observational but that they accounted for people weighing more in the winter months and less in the summer months.

But they suggested dieters may be most successful in January due to ‘fresh start’ New Year’s resolutions, widespread weight loss attempts and the heavy marketing of weight loss programmes.

These factors can boost motivation, leading to higher engagement with diet plans and more weight loss.

Meanwhile, August dieters may struggle the most as it is ‘typically a holiday month in England’, so the lack of a routine may make it harder to shift the scales.

Dr Koutoukidis told The Telegraph: ‘Our best hypothesis is that people are more motivated to lose weight in January, because it is typically seen as a “fresh start” and people make new year’s resolutions.

‘And so, they end up attending more of the group sessions (i.e. they are more engaged with the programme) and therefore lose more weight.’

However, the British Dietitian Association has previously warned that the ‘new year, new you’ mentality can promote crash diets and harm mental health.

It urges people to think about what they should be eating more of — such as fibre — rather than focusing on restricting their diet.

What should a balanced diet look like? 

Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain, according to the NHS

• Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables count;
• Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain;
• 30 grams of fibre a day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, 2 whole-wheat cereal biscuits, 2 thick slices of wholemeal bread and large baked potato with the skin on;
• Have some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks) choosing lower fat and lower sugar options;
• Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish every week, one of which should be oily);
• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consuming in small amounts;
• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water a day;
• Adults should have less than 6g of salt and 20g of saturated fat for women or 30g for men a day.

Source: NHS Eatwell Guide