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I am an avid consumer of audiobooks and I will never pay/listen to anything AI-generated. Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but just because they have shown tha

I am an avid consumer of audiobooks and I will never pay/listen to anything AI-generated. Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but just because they have shown that it is technically feasible, that doesn't mean that there is a market for it. I am skeptical. Listening to audiobooks is already a compromise over reading the book, listening to an AI-generated audiobook sounds to me like a bit too much. But let's see.

atrus 3y ago
You'll never pay/listen to anything you're able to identify as AI-generated.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Obviously there are lots of short snippets of audio that are machine generated. But, no, at the current state of the art I'm not going to listen to a machine generated audiobook much less pay for it.
freedomben 3y ago
I would agree but there is one big exception: books I really want to read but there's no audiobook version. I have a particular interest in early Mormon history and the history of the western US, and there are some really great books that aren't available as audio. I ended up generating some with aws and while the voice annoyed me, I was willing to do it, and the cost was much higher than a normal audiobook would cost. I think in reality, the more popular books will get a pro reading, but as long as it's labeled, there will be a market for ai audiobooks.
prepend 3y ago
It’s not for you, it’s for the millions/billions not currently listening to audiobooks. This reminds me of the “I’ll never listen to mp3, I love my <whatever>.” The goal wasn’t to convince existing people but to expand to new people.
hedora 3y ago
Check out audio fiction podcasts. Some do full productions of short stories. Depending on the work, reading the text is a compromise over listening to the reading. For instance, music is extremely important to these two stories by Aliya Whiteley: https://www.drabblecast.org/2007/12/20/drabblecast-43-jelly-park/ https://www.drabblecast.org/2007/12/20/drabblecast-43-jelly-... Warning: the above has mild language and adult themes. https://www.drabblecast.org/2010/07/27/drabblecast-173-go-beep-by-aliya-whiteley-drabble-sunday-go-to-sockin%E2%80%99-by-vela-damon/ https://www.drabblecast.org/2010/07/27/drabblecast-173-go-be...

atrus 3y ago

You'll never pay/listen to anything you're able to identify as AI-generated.

ghaff 3y ago
Obviously there are lots of short snippets of audio that are machine generated. But, no, at the current state of the art I'm not going to listen to a machine generated audiobook much less pay for it.

freedomben 3y ago

I would agree but there is one big exception: books I really want to read but there's no audiobook version. I have a particular interest in early Mormon history and the history of the western US, and there are some really great books that aren't available as audio. I ended up generating some with aws and while the voice annoyed me, I was willing to do it, and the cost was much higher than a normal audiobook would cost. I think in reality, the more popular books will get a pro reading, but as long as it's labeled, there will be a market for ai audiobooks.

prepend 3y ago

It’s not for you, it’s for the millions/billions not currently listening to audiobooks. This reminds me of the “I’ll never listen to mp3, I love my <whatever>.” The goal wasn’t to convince existing people but to expand to new people.

hedora 3y ago

Check out audio fiction podcasts. Some do full productions of short stories. Depending on the work, reading the text is a compromise over listening to the reading. For instance, music is extremely important to these two stories by Aliya Whiteley: https://www.drabblecast.org/2007/12/20/drabblecast-43-jelly-park/ https://www.drabblecast.org/2007/12/20/drabblecast-43-jelly-... Warning: the above has mild language and adult themes. https://www.drabblecast.org/2010/07/27/drabblecast-173-go-beep-by-aliya-whiteley-drabble-sunday-go-to-sockin%E2%80%99-by-vela-damon/ https://www.drabblecast.org/2010/07/27/drabblecast-173-go-be...