Originally Posted by
joejones
The Japanese blog I linked above says that they have been using computer-generated voices for Tokaido Shinkansen announcements (both Japanese and English) since around 2023.
That link is a fairly exhaustive list of train announcers with dates of service, but only a few go back to the 1980s. In a few cases, it shows dates of service as "~ 2012," suggesting an earlier start date, but how far back is unclear. No doubt, computer-generated voices are the wave of the future, so Donna may be the last of the human voice announcers on the Shinkansen. With AI poised to take over many jobs, I now understand why politicians are proposing a Universal Basic Income. The tech bros are driving our future, but fortunately, as a Boomer, I've been unaffected and am now retired from the workaday world.