Amazon’s audiobook service, Audible, has announced plans to expand its catalog by partnering with select publishers to convert print and e-books into AI-narrated audiobooks. In its official statement, Audible said, “We are bringing new audiobooks to life through our own fully integrated, end-to-end AI production technology.” The company is leveraging Amazon’s AI capabilities to help publishers streamline audiobook production.

To further increase global access to audiobooks, Audible also plans to launch a beta version of a new AI-powered translation tool later this year. This tool will offer both text-to-text and speech-to-speech translation services, initially supporting translations from English into Spanish, French, Italian, and German. It will be available to select publishers, who will also have the option to work with professional linguists to review translations for accuracy.

Do it yourself or let Audible manage it

Audible’s new AI narration technology offers two options for publishers: “Audible-managed” production or “self-service.” The first option essentially means Audible handles the entire audiobook production process from start to finish, while the self-service option gives publishers access to the same tools so they can independently manage and direct the production themselves.

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. 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.

Bob Carrigan, Chief executive of Audible

Both options let publishers choose from over 100 AI-generated voices across English, Spanish, French, and Italian, with multiple accents and dialects available for narration. This new offering follows Audible's move last year to invite a cohort of audiobook narrators to help train its AI using their voices in preparation for the launch of this service.

Not everyone is happy with Audible’s new service

A search for “virtual voice” on Audible brings up over 50,000 results labeled “Narrated By: Virtual Voice,” showing that AI narration is already popular among authors who may not have the resources to produce traditional audiobooks. Despite that, the rise of mechanized audiobook narration has sparked debate within the publishing community, with narrators like Kristan Atherton, narrator of more than 400 audiobooks on Audible, saying:

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. 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.

Source: The Guardian

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