Artificial Intelligence
Amazon starts training AI-powered audiobook readers
The effort is designed to add more audiobooks to the service, quickly and cheaply, and to welcome traditional narrators into the evolving world of audiobook automation.
Amazon.com Inc’s Audible is set to invite a selected group of US-based audiobook narrators to participate in a program aimed at training artificial intelligence with their voices. The purpose of this initiative is to utilize AI-generated clones of these voices for audiobook recordings, thereby expanding the service’s offerings quickly and cost-effectively. This move also aims to integrate traditional narrators into the evolving landscape of audiobook automation, a field that has been met with some skepticism.
The project, commencing this week, follows a previous initiative by Amazon that allowed self-published US authors on the Kindle Store to opt for narration using a generic “virtual voice” for their books. This feature has gained popularity, with over 40,000 titles on Audible already utilizing this technology as of May.
Under the new program, Audible will encourage professional narrators to participate in creating AI-generated replicas of their voices, enabling them to enhance their audiobook production capabilities, take on more projects simultaneously, and potentially increase their earnings. Participants will have the opportunity to construct their voice replicas at no cost and will receive compensation for audiobooks produced using their AI voices through a royalty-sharing model.
In a bid to offer more exclusive content on its platform, Audible is seeking to diversify the voices available for audiobook narration. Despite the virtual voice tools introduced last year, a significant portion of self-published titles on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing service still lack accompanying audiobooks.
Once a narrator approves the use of their AI voice for a specific project, they will have the ability to fine-tune pronunciation and pacing using Audible’s in-house production tools. It is important to note that Audible will only utilize the AI replicas with explicit permission from the narrators.
Audible emphasizes that narrators will retain control over the projects they choose to audition for, whether using AI-generated voice replicas or live performances. The company emphasizes that narrators will remain central to the audiobook production process, with the AI technology serving as a complementary tool in enhancing their capabilities.
