Apple rolls out AI-narrated audiobooks, and it’s probably the start of a trend

guest · Jan 7, 2023

"This audiobook features 'Madison'—a digital voice based on a human narrator."
By Samuel Axon - January 7, 2023

Apple's digital storefronts now offer audiobooks recorded by artificial narrators instead of humans in a sound booth. The audiobooks are listed in the Books app as "Narrated by Apple Books."
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Clicking on the information icon next to that line brings up a text box that clarifies the book is narrated by "a digital voice based on a human narrator." There are multiple digital voices across the Apple Books library, with names like "Madison" or "Jackson"—but each book is offered with just one of them.

We listened to an hour each of two digitally narrated titles. The calm tones were clear and mostly benign, and they could be mistaken for real human voices with a short listen. We did hear some anomalies, though—for example, an odd pronunciation of the city "San Antonio." And obviously, the neutral and emotionless voices are not replacements for styles of human audiobook narration that can be passionate performances.
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According to The Guardian, Apple reached out to independent book publishers over the past several months and told them it would front the cost of the digital recordings but pay authors royalties on sales. Some publishers agreed, and others didn't. But this is likely just the start of Apple's effort, and more may be added later.

Apple probably won't be the only company to do it, either. Google and Amazon—also major purveyors of both ebooks and audiobooks—have publicly talked about this possibility before.
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If AI narrators become something readers commonly accept and enjoy, it could increase the leverage Apple and other tech companies have over publishers and authors who want as many people as possible to see or hear their work.
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guest · Jan 7, 2023

Publishers are dubious of Apple’s new AI audiobook narration
By Shaun - January 7, 2023

Starting now, you can listen to audiobooks narrated by AI on Apple Books. The feature was originally supposed to hit the market in November 2022, but was delayed to this year for unknown reasons. While it may sound neat to be able to listen to all your favorite books in the same voice, journalists and publishers are far from convinced.
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While I understand that it’s disconcerting to see AI break into yet another industry, it’s not something I have the power or influence to fight.

In a recent scathing commentary on Apple’s new AI audiobook feature, The Guardian describes the initiative as being ‘an attempt to upend the lucrative and fast-growing audiobook market.’
According to The Guardian, Apple approached numerous publishers in an attempt to strike up partnerships for the new AI narration initiative. However, ‘not all agreed to participate.’ This ultimately showcases the hesitance that companies still have about implementing AI into the services they provide. However, part of the problem could also be due to the secrecy that seems to have been involved in the negotiations.
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An industry divided
Apple’s business practices aside, the core issue with the service seems to be the nature of the service itself. People in this business don’t like change, particularly when that change comes at the potential cost of a few good men.

One publisher is on record as having said that the narrator ‘brings a whole new range of art in creating an audiobook, and we believe that’s a powerful thing.’ He asserts that the use of a human narrator adds value to writing as an art form and that it would be soulless to create an audiobook using AI.
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A new hope
While the industry may be reluctant to embrace this initiative, Apple maintains that it has a lot of good to do. The company argues that this initiative - converting books to audiobooks with AI - will shake up the industry by giving other writers a new platform. ‘More and more book lovers are listening to audiobooks, yet only a fraction of books are converted to audio — leaving millions of titles unheard.’
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Apple rolls out AI-narrated audiobooks, and it’s probably the start of a trend

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