Writers And Voice Actors Respond To Audible’s New Plan To Use AI For Book Narrations
Audible recently announced that they will be using artificial intelligence (AI) to narrate audiobooks and translate works as well. Many writers, voice actors, and translators have responded to this new phase of audiobook listening, and aren’t happy with the decision to have technology take away jobs from hardworking individuals.
Audible, owned by Amazon, said that it will be using its AI production technology with certain publishers through “select partnerships,” according to reports.
“We are bringing new audiobooks to life through our own fully integrated, end-to-end AI production technology,” Audible published on their website.
Audible will be providing managed production where publishers have the choice to produce their own audiobooks with their AI technology.
Publishers can choose from over 100 AI-generated voices in English, Spanish, French, and Italian to narrate their books. The first audiobooks using this technology through Audible will likely be available later in the year.
“Audible believes that AI represents a momentous opportunity to expand the availability of audiobooks with the vision of offering customers every book in every language, alongside our continued investments in premium original content,” said Bob Carrigan, the chief executive of Audible.
“We’ll be able to bring more stories to life – helping creators reach new audiences while ensuring listeners worldwide can access extraordinary books that might otherwise never reach their ears.”
Writers, translators, and voice actors have responded to this advancement with disappointment, stating that using AI to voice a book takes away the sincerity and beauty of storytelling.
“This shortsighted scheme reduces what we love about storytelling to the simple delivery of code. In an age of declining literacy, I can’t think of anything more likely to put people off listening to audiobooks altogether,” said Chocolat author Joanne Harris.
“[Human narrators] actively sell audio content by being good at their jobs,” said Kristen Atherton, who narrated over 400 audiobooks on Audible.
“The art – and it is an art – of a good audiobook is the crack in the voice at a moment of unexpected emotion, the wryness of good comedy timing, or the disbelief a listener feels when one person can convincingly be a whole cast of characters,” she said.
“No matter how ‘human’ an AI voice sounds, it’s those little intricacies that turn a good book into an excellent one. AI can’t replicate that.”
Stephen Briggs, who voices audiobooks said: “The use of AI to replace human creativity is in itself a dangerous path.
Actor and audiobook narrator Deepti Gupta said: “We need to create more, not less, space for Bipoc narrators, and these AI tools are a new way to marginalize and colonize the voices that need to be heard.”
“Time after time, generative AI has been shown to produce lowest-common-denominator results, while human translators, while fallible, use their personalities and the serendipity of the human mind to produce unique solutions to linguistic and literary problems, thereby creating art,” Nichola Smalley, who translates Swedish and Norwegian literature into English, said.
Literary translator Frank Wynne said: “No one pretends to use AI for translation, audiobooks, or even writing books because they are better; the only excuse is that they are cheaper. Which is only true if you ignore the vast processing power even the simplest AI request requires.”
“In the search for a cheap simulacra to an actual human, we are prepared to burn down the planet and call it progress,” he stated.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
