The field of audiobooks is already experiencing the transformative effects of artificial intelligence (AI).
AI technology can rapidly produce human-like recordings, reducing the need for human professionals who traditionally make a living from their voices.
This has resulted in a significant decline in business for many voice actors and narrators, with professionals reporting a sharp drop in workload and bookings. Companies like DeepZen offer AI-assisted recording that can significantly reduce the cost of creating an audiobook compared to traditional methods.
They use a database created by recording the voices of multiple actors speaking in different emotional registers and ensure proper licensing and royalty payments.
However, ethical concerns arise because some companies exploit voice databases without adequate compensation or licensing agreements. Although AI-assisted recordings are not labeled as such, thousands of audiobooks currently in circulation use sounds generated from the database. While some platforms adhere to ethical practices, others take voices from multiple sources and combine them into a single voice, claiming it belongs to no one else. This “grey area” is being exploited by many platforms.
Traditional publishers are also embracing AI technology, with some already using generative AI to create text, images, videos and sounds from existing content without human intervention. While professional narration is at the core of the audiobook experience, companies like Audible see a future where human performance and text-to-speech content can coexist. Big tech companies like Apple and Google are entering the AI narrated audiobook market, with the goal of making audiobook creation more accessible to independent authors and small publishers.
They want to democratize the publishing industry and open the door to old books that have never been recorded, as well as future books that may not be economically viable for humane recording.
Critics argue that storytelling must remain a human endeavor, emphasizing how to become human through storytelling. They express concern that AI-generated recordings lack an emotional connection compared to human recordings. However, there is concern that people may become accustomed to machine-generated versions, gradually accepting them as normal.
In light of this, companies are required to be transparent and disclose when AI-generated snippets are being used in audiobooks.
While the rise of AI in the audiobook industry presents challenges for human voice actors, proponents believe the growing market will ultimately benefit both AI and human narrators, resulting in more opportunities and recordings overall.
