In today’s busy life, a lot of people don’t have time to have the ethereal experience of turning the pages of a book and diving into its universe. One way to still enjoy every plot twist is by listening to audiobooks. For some books, they may find film adaptations on Spectrum tv service or of their respective cable provider. A complaint a lot of readers have is about the limited variety of audiobooks.
The process of converting a book into an audiobook is quite challenging. But the recent announcement of Apple about its audiobook narrators can be a real game changer. It is an AI technology that narrates a book. Read on to learn what this technology is, what gaps it is expected to bridge, and how it works.
Challenges in Creating Audiobooks
Writing a book and getting it published by one of the major publishers is not a big deal for renowned authors. However, it is a much more difficult process for aspiring writers to publish their first books. Many writers end up self-publishing at their own expense which drains their finances.
You have to pay the studio, hire a voice artist, and bear various other expenses. Then finally a book is converted into an audiobook. The process of creating audiobooks can take from weeks to months. Also, the costs can add up to anywhere between $50K to $100K. This is why audiobooks are more expensive and you will only find select titles.
For anyone wondering why voice the characters on your own, voiceover requires a completely different set of skills. It is an art and voiceover artists often join training programs to control and mold their voice and tone. Simple and robotic-sounding recitation is not likely to benefit an audiobook and make it loved by book lovers.
Apple’s Audiobook Narration by AI
Apple has released audiobook narration by AI. You can listen to over a hundred titles to have a clear idea of what to expect from an AI-narrated book. Many of these books fall under the romance or fiction genre. But if you’re an author or someone interested in this technology, it is advisable to experience one of these to see the results for yourself. You can check out the AI book narrations on Apple Books. People with iPhones or iPads can listen to audiobooks.
People have divided views about technology. Some are skeptical about how the AI voice compares to a human voice while others are interested in the prospect. It is only natural after the launch of ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. To clear things up, the AI narration by Apple is not the same robotic voice you hear at the start of many TikTok videos. It is much more advanced than a generic AI voice reciting sentences with an awkward accent.
The company has used advanced speech synthesis technology with help from linguists and quality control specialists. A high-quality AI-narrated audiobook goes through this thorough process before it is available. According to the company, the inclusion of the AI narrated books is not going to be a replacement for human-narrated books. The human-voiced catalog will continue to grow.
How to Get an AI Apple Narrated Book Published?
Currently, two companies can help you with converting your e-book into an audiobook for Apple Books. These two are Draft2digital and Ingram Coresource. For a book to be eligible, it has to be written in English and of specific genres. Upon downloading, a reader can select from two AI voices (Jackson and Madison). However, Apple has said that it will soon expand to other genres and add other voices too.
Because it is a recent announcement and a work in progress, many things are yet to be specified by the company. For instance, it is not known if Apple would allow publishers to publish their e-books on other platforms too. Also, there have been some delays by the company in launching this new feature. A report by Gartner stated that the company was hoping to launch the feature in November of 2022.
If you are wondering what the cost of the process of AI narration is, you won’t find much information as of the time of writing this blog. However, you may get some insights into pricing by contacting the two companies. Everything considered it is easy to understand that the features, process, and various other aspects are incomplete and in the development phase as of now.
Conclusion
AI-powered book narrations are undoubtedly an interesting prospect for many authors. Apple’s AI narrations may potentially remove many hurdles in the way of creating audiobooks. However, not much is known as of yet and plenty is in the process of development. It is yet to be seen what the future holds for these AI-narrated books.
Abdul Qadeer is highly experienced in creating engaging content that adds real value to a blog, website, or brand. He is creating content for multiple niches like technology, SEO, Marketing, Health, Education and Career Development, etc.