Learning English Podcast - AI Voice, Summer Heat, Gaza Schooling

On today's podcast, Ashley Thompson and Dan Novak host the show. Ashley tells listeners what they are going to hear.

First, Ashley reports on news from the world of artificial intelligence. The American artificial intelligence company OpenAI has removed one of its ChatGPT voices. The move came after actor Scarlett Johansson said the voice sounded “eerily similar” to her voice in the movie Her. The company said the voice was of a different actor but could not release the name of the person.

Then, John Russell reports on recent news from scientists studying the Earth's climate. A recent study found that the summer of 2023 was the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere in more than 2,000 years. The study writers said they were able to know the temperature of the world from tree rings. Outside experts, however, questioned the findings saying that other methods can go back 20,000 years. But the study writers said the tree rings were more exact.

After that, Dan Novak and Gena Bennett have the Education Report, which is about the situation in Gaza and the war between Israel and Hamas. Since the war started in October, all of Gaza's schools have closed leaving hundreds of thousands of students without formal schooling or a safe place to spend their days. In the territory, safety, food, shelter and sanitation are more important than education, experts say.

Following the report, Dan and Ashley discuss whether there are any efforts to restart educational programs while the war continues.

Finally, John Russell uses a report on alternating wet, dry rice farming to talk about the word alternate. John cover the meaning and pronunciation of the word.

Then, Ashley and Dan sign off.

Scarlett Johansson Says ChatGPT Voice ‘Similar’ to Hers https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a...
Study: Tree Rings Show Summer of 2023 Was Very Hot https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a...
For Children of Gaza, War Means No School https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a...


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