“Amazon Equips Audiobook Narrators with Tech to Create AI Doppelgangers of Their Voices – Talk about Double Trouble!”
“Amazon’s Audiobook Narrators Can Now Make Their Own AI Voice Clones”
“IN DECEMBER 2019, the audiobook company Audible unveiled the fruits of a secret, years-long project: a machine learning algorithm that could mimic celebrity voices.”
How about that? Yet another monumental achievement for artificial intelligence. Audible, beloved by audiobook enthusiasts the world over, decided to surprise us with the revelation of a project they had been covertly nurturing for years. They have now developed an AI that can mimic the dulcet tones of your favorite celebrity. A breakthrough indeed!
So, what’s the big deal? The prospect of having an AI mimic a beloved Wagner Moura in the narration of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ might appear electrifying to some. As it turns out, it’s not just the tecchies and everyday users who are awestruck. This development left the critics comically captivated too.
The Guild of narrators was, understandably, a tad miffed. Maybe they thought “A machine imitating celebrity voices?! Next they’ll have us believe unicorns exist.” Far from being enamored with its prospects, they seem to view this development as nothing short of an existential threat.
There are some understandable concerns with this AI impersonation breakthrough. Critics argue that such technology could risk transforming creative art forms into commodity production lines. It’s almost as if our beloved storytellers are being usurped by android clones. The ingenuity and authenticity of human expression could take a hit in favor of algorithms.
Drawing parallels to music, remember when auto-tune captured every pop artist’s fascination? Some may argue it gave us a few catchy tunes, but at the expense of raw, emotive performances. Thus, the fear is that we may be heading towards an equivalent “auto-tune moment” for audiobooks.
One thorny issue is the matter of intellectual property rights. There are so many questions. Who gets to decide when and where these AI-voiced audiobooks are used? If an AI perfectly mimics Morgan Freeman’s voice, does he get royalties?
So, while some may eagerly anticipate the sonic accents of AI-driven celebrity narrations, let’s not forget the looming danger of standardization and the loss of the richer, subtler, and infinitely more complex human touch. When it comes to audiobooks, AI might just be biting off more than it can chew. But, hey, this is just an opinion. Who knows, maybe someday AI narrators will be giving their human counterparts a run for their money!