I get the feeling that some people here are comparing AI narrated books
to those professionally narrated by the best in the business, as from
Audible.
But that is the wrong comparison.
Firstly, for those reading nonfiction, you don't need a professional
dramatic performance of a book.
Also, there are tons of magazines out there that could be AI narrated
but that aren't because there are not enough human narrators, or the
funds, to do the job.
If it comes down to material being accessible via AI narration, or not
accessible at all, I think many people will overcome their prejudices
and listen to them.
Also, AI narration is a fast moving technology. As I said, it would be
unwise to claim that it could never be as good as the best human
narration. But even if it never does get that good, there are still a
lot of areas where it would be very useful in filling an accessibility void.
Evan
On 1/14/2023 3:04 PM, Sieghard Weitzel wrote:
There are many examples where robots or robotic processes can do things much
faster and more accurately than humans and in principle there is nothing wrong
with utilizing technology we developed to improve the manufacturing process or
even health care.
In the context of audio books I am also a huge fan of human narration and I for
one wouldn't listen to an e-Book read by a synthesized voice if you paid me.
As for books read by AI I can't say, guess in a way it's still a synthesized
voice, but if it is really that good I might listen to it although my guess is
that I would still prefer a good human narrator. Of course sometimes you also
get not very good narrators especially with books from the public domain, so
here a really good AI maybe will do a better job.
-----Original Message-----
From: viphone@googlegroups.com <viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Barbara
Stahl
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2023 7:58 AM
To: viphone@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Apple Quietly Launches a Selection of Audiobooks Voiced by an AI
Robot, Mac Daily News
I listened to the preview link in the article and the narration is surprisingly
good. But I completely agree, nothing could ever be better than human
narration for me. And its totally wrong for companies to try to replace people
with robots just for profet. Its disgusting.
On Jan 14, 2023, at 1:08 AM, Dennis Long <dennisl1...@gmail.com> wrote:
I completely agree.
Dennis Long
Sent from my iPhone SE 3
On Jan 14, 2023, at 1:06 AM, Alan Lemly <wale...@gmail.com> wrote:
While I certainly want any AI rendered audiobooks to be of the highest
quality, this feels like the next phase of cost reduction by eliminating human
voice actors. I can't ever imagine an AI narrated book to be of the same
quality as a human narrated one and hope we'll continue to have a good supply
of human narrated audio for many years to come.
Alan Lemly
-----Original Message-----
From: viphone@googlegroups.com <viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of M. Taylor
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2023 8:30 PM
To: viphone@googlegroups.com
Subject: Apple Quietly Launches a Selection of Audiobooks Voiced by an AI
Robot, Mac Daily News
Hello Everyone,
I was Fascinated by this article so quickly went to Apple Books and explored
the selection.
I must say, I am amazed at the quality of the AI Rendering of the text.
While there are several free AI voiced audio books from which to choose, I purchased a
title called "WildWood" by Elinor Florence.
I will be posting a second article on this in a little while.
Enjoy,
Mark
Apple quietly launches a selection of audiobooks voiced by an AI robot
MacDailyNews - Friday, January 6, 2023 at 2:36 PM Apple quietly launches a
selection of audiobooks voiced by an AI robot Apple has quietly launched a
catalog of books narrated by an AI robot using artificial intelligence and
voice synthesis technologies it developed.
By Leyland Cecco, for The Guardian:
The popularity of the audiobook market has exploded in recent years, with
technology companies scrambling to gain a foothold. Sales last year jumped 25%,
bringing in more than $1.5bn. Industry insiders believe the global market could
be worth more than $35bn by 2030.
On the company's Books app, searching for "AI narration" reveals the catalogue of works
included in the scheme, which are described as being "narrated by digital voice based on a
human narrator".
Apple's development of AI to narrate books could represent a significant shift
in how major technology companies see the future of audiobooks.
Publishers, authors and literary agents who spoke to the Guardian said the
strategy, if successful, could have significant implications for the market.
MacDailyNews Take: At first listen, it doesn't sound awful. A preview can be
heard via Apple Books here.
Original Article at:
https://macdailynews.com/2023/01/06/apple-quietly-launches-a-selection-of-au
diobooks-voiced-by-an-ai-robot/
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