Robots reading audiobooks

[@jakeschell3941]

No thanks, I would return instantly.

[@greblaksnew]

I think there will be blood.

[@mtnshelby7059]

Interesting video. I don't think I've yet listened to an AI generated audiobook but it's likely just a matter of time. (I think there are some terrible professional narrators, though.)

[@becomingabookworm]

I agree. The Norwegian apps also seem to be filled with books recorded a long time ago for radio.. Let´s just say they are not great..

[@OhioEddieBlack]

OMG YES :(

[@OhioEddieBlack]

This is a good topic to start thinking about. It''s no longer a matter of "if" but "when" or even "soon" which bothers me. i don't have a problem with an AI voice reading a book if the voice is a random voice. I have a big problem with that voice learning how to be a specific person's voice and then reading their book instead of the author being paid to read their book. That's where it becomes not okay with me.

[@becomingabookworm]

Yes, that would be really weird.. It´s a thing I haven´t thought about before but it would be sad if authors/actors sold their voices to companies to be used for audiobooks for example.

[@Bookit9254]

I kind of hate the idea of losing the human element. A certain sameness or “rightness”’will creep into our interpretation of how written texts are expressed. AI may have the potential to learn a great variety of nuance but people paying the bills for it will want the greatest return for the least investment. “Adequate” narration will be the norm.

[@becomingabookworm]

I think you´re onto something. The quality of the product of course varies today and will probably forever vary but maybe AI will make the quality consistently a bit better..

[@LunaciaBooks]

I think the aspect of people loosing their jobs is sad, but unfortunately not a new one. And if they use AI voices, I think more money should go to the authors, not Amazon and the like.

[@becomingabookworm]

Agreed!

[@elvennthegrey2678]

I've been seeing more and more audiobooks in Goodreads created with Amazon's Virtual Voice feature. As a consumer, I prefer a human voice and to support professional narrators, but I understand that many may not be in a possition to pay the extra cost in the book's final price. Perhaps virtual voices may end being exclusive of low-cost editions... or may evolve until we'll not be able to tell the difference. 😅

[@becomingabookworm]

I have not thought of the "real person" as a premium subscription kind of thing but maybe you´re right.. So far I have not seen generated voices in my audiobook app, but I am sure it will happen soon.

[@southernbiscuits1275]

This is a very interesting idea to consider. I think your first comments about people losing jobs and corporations gaining even more financial power are spot on. I admit I am a liberal but I do not believe in any sort of power being given to the few. Greed is a pertinent aspect (albeit a bad one) of human nature. Money equates to power, power equates to control. AI has become incredibly pervasive in a short period of time. There are not many laws governing it yet even though there have been many warnings about how easy AI is to be abused. And, as you pointed out, can a machine produce art? Art is a human product. Like greed, it is an integral part of our humanity. I wish I had an answer. I'm seventy-five so I won't have to deal with problems like this for as long as will the generations of people younger than me. I fear for the future.

[@becomingabookworm]

I am not the most optimistic person and I admit that AI scares me a bit. This is probably the least harm AI will be able to do and I don´t really like to think about it. Hopefully someone will use AI to solve the climate crisis, end hunger and war, but only time will tell. The moment AI-generated art is the most common kind of art, we will have lost something I think.

[@biankakoettlitz6979]

If the Norwegian voices/robots read the book more lively like Germans do, then I welcoming it, because Norwegian audiobooks are so boooooring, a perfect sleeping pill, I think.

[@becomingabookworm]

Haha, now I have to try some German audiobooks 😂! I would say it varies quite a bit, but some are perfect for sleeping!

[@amadeuscrossing7061]

Audiobooks were already a mistake. It is the desecration of an art, the art of reading, the skill of reading. This is just the natural course of things. A price will always be paid for the pseudo “efficiency” of commodification

[@mtnshelby7059]

Because storytelling was invented with the printing press. 😂

[@amadeuscrossing7061]

@@mtnshelby7059 Of course, and Socrates was just biding his time until he could share his philosophies via TED Talks. 🥸

[@MattMilu]

🤖 Sad but true!!

[@reaganwiles_art]

LOL 😂

[@ellenmadebookclub]

If it sounds like a human, with all that would entail, the listening experience will be fine. I’m more worried about the implications for the actual humans. A real human narrator will (should) always cost more and I think it will be hard for them to compete. The market is already fast fashion. If a robot voice sounds like a human, to the point where we can’t tell the difference, that’s also terrifying because it will eventually be impossible to trust anything being broadcast anywhere. This might be going beyond the discussion of audiobooks but… it is 😊 I think I’m not as worried about AI itself. It’s kind of like religion, it can be an amazing and helpful thing, but there will always be humans who abuse it and humans who find themselves abused by it. So that’s my fear.

[@becomingabookworm]

I have heard several places that there is only a short time until there are more AI generated pictures than actual photographs online and that freaks me out a bit. So I would agree with audiobooks probably being the smallest of our challenges going forward.. But I am pretty pessimistic and I often hope I am wrong :)

[@ellenmadebookclub]

@@becomingabookworm Yes, soon we will have ai booktubers that know all books ever. I hope you / we are wrong too! 😊 I do think ai is great for communicating visual ideas though, and I’ve seen it used in requests for actual photographers, so… there’s that!

[@becomingabookworm]

@@ellenmadebookclub I bet an AI channel on booktube will be able to be the most populare ever but I also think it will be the channel for people that don´t read all that much. I imagine it to be a channel with a lot of lists with clear "answers"..

[@ellenmadebookclub]

@@becomingabookworm I think so too. Might be great for educational purposes. But the point of booktube, and youtube in general, is to connect with other people and to have opinions to share and compare, and even if an AI could act as if it liked a book, it would feel a bit pointless to find out... And I find the most interesting parts of humans is usually all the mistakes we make. I think that's part of the reason why we laugh so much at AI or robots when they fail. My partner showed me a video where these super advanced robots tripped and fell and rolled down a hill, it was hilarious 😅

[@becomingabookworm]

I agree. I think there is a big difference in people watching videos on youtube now and then and people that regularly watch specific channels and interact with creators they like. There is a place for both but AI is already more involved in videomaking for the latter group I think.

[@czt76]

How about a Shakespeare’s play where Shakespeare plays all parts in a simulation? 😂

[@becomingabookworm]

Hahaha.. I would listen!

[@czt76]

@@becomingabookworm the visuals would be fantastic, too!

[@becomingabookworm]

Indeed!

[@animenmaster]

Ai voices will eventually become indistinguishable from humans, errors and all (though mistakes are edited out anyways). People won't realize the voices read by "dave" in a few years, probably 2-3 years.

[@becomingabookworm]

I think you´re right.

[@Unpotted]

Some scientists believe we are living in a simulation If that’s true, AI audiobooks might be the controller of the simulation slipping through a crack in the matrix to read us bedtime stories. 😺✌️

[@becomingabookworm]

Haha! Indeed!

[@Lil_Chuddie]

If a computer can do your job, it's not a real job.

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

This will come back to bite you.