"Who inquiries here, Latone? Share your discoveries."
Nestled amidst meticulously manicured shrubs and swarming with American tourists, the Basin of Latona proudly graces the compass of the Gardens of Versailles' sprawling landscape. At the statue's gilded feet, an informative sign summarizes its creation details – sculpted between 1668 and 1670 – and the names of its creators, Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy. However, upon closer examination, a QR code bordered by text catches the eye: "Chat It Up! Thanks to AI, converse with this statue."
Since June 23rd, casual chats in French, English, or Spanish with around twenty statues have become an innovative reality within the gardens. Thanks to this cutting-edge innovation, a form of high-tech audio guide, visitors can engage in immediate conversation with these statues via AI. This technological marvel results from a collaboration between the Palace of Versailles, OpenAI, and the French startup Ask Mona.
At the heart of the conversation-empowering tech is OpenAI’s advanced language models, which are cleverly repurposed to generate spoken dialogue akin to a chatbot persona for each statue. Visitors can now effortlessly initiate conversations with these AI-driven chatbots to learn profound insights about the sculptures that once stood mute before. It's a modern twist on the traditional audio guide, energy-charging the visitor experience at this iconic cultural landmark.
This interactive system seamlessly integrates 17th-century aesthetics with 21st-century technology, transforming otherwise static sculptures into effervescent storytellers. Smooth transitions between natural language processing and speech synthesis from OpenAI meet the conversational interface developed by Ask Mona to deliver an unprecedented cultural interaction, catering to the approximately 8 million yearly visitors who annually traverse these famous grounds. [1][2][3][4][5]
- The Gardens of Versailles have integrated artificial intelligence, allowing visitors to chat with several statues, including the Basin of Latona, through a high-tech audio guide developed by the Palace of Versailles, OpenAI, and French startup Ask Mona.
- This innovative system transforms historically mute sculptures into effervescent storytellers by using OpenAI's advanced language models to generate spoken dialogue, creating a personalized chatbot persona for each statue.
- As a result, home-and-garden enthusiasts and technology aficionados can immerse themselves in a unique lifestyle experience, engaging in casual chats with these AI-driven statues about their history and origin, blending 17th-century aesthetics with 21st-century technology.
