The audiobook industry is witnessing a significant shift as AI-generated voices are increasingly being used to narrate digital books, sparking both excitement and concern among authors, listeners, and professional narrators.
TechSpot reports that Amazon’s introduction of a beta tool last year, which allows self-published authors to generate AI-narrated audiobooks, has led to a surge of over 40,000 AI-narrated titles on Audible, the company’s audiobook platform. This development has been particularly beneficial for indie writers who want to enter the audiobook market without incurring the high costs associated with professional voiceover fees. One blogger reported that converting an ebook to audio using the AI narration tool took just 52 minutes, significantly reducing the time and expenses involved in the traditional studio recording process.
However, the reactions to this…
