AI-narrated audiobooks can be identified by phrases such as "narrated by a digital voice based on a human narrator" or "narrated by Apple Books" in the audiobook's description.
To create AI-narrated audiobooks, services such as Murf and Podcastle can be used by uploading a script or text version of the book and editing with available features.
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AI narration is becoming more accepted in the audio ecosystem and can help cut down costs and logistics, making audiobooks more accessible to a wider audience.
Some signs that an audiobook may be narrated by AI include the absence of a human narrator's ratings and a high volume of books released under the same name on the same day.
On Apple Books, users can search for "AI narration" or "narrated by Apple Books" in the audiobooks section of the Books app to find AI-narrated audiobooks.
Uploading an audiobook to Barnes & Noble requires indicating a narrator contributor in the metadata as "Read by 'Synthesized Voice'", "Female Synthesized Voice", or "Male Synthesized Voice".
As of now, you cannot directly upload an audiobook to Barnes & Noble, but AI audio titles can be accepted through Findaway Voices by Spotify.
Services like Speechify allow users to narrate books and turn them into audiobooks using a human-quality voice generator, with 130 voices and 30 languages available.
AI-generated voices can be used to create audiobooks that are almost indistinguishable from those narrated by humans, making it difficult to tell the difference.
The rise of AI-narrated audiobooks is expected to continue, with some predicting that services that don't accept AI-narrated content now will likely do so in the next few years.
The use of AI in audiobooks raises ethical questions about the role of technology in creative industries and the impact on human narrators.
The quality of AI-narrated audiobooks is improving rapidly, with some listeners reporting that they cannot tell the difference between an AI-narrated audiobook and one narrated by a human.