They’re here…..

Those of you of a certain age may remember seeing the movie Poltergeist in the theater when it was first released. I do. I’m not much for scary movies, but I did enjoy that one. And, of course, “They’re here…” has become sort of a cultural object.

These days, “they” are AI, and they’re definitely here. I’m glad I don’t work in academia anymore. Some instructors are trying to harness it for good. I wish them luck. If I was still teaching, I’d be using Jamie Brodie’s exam method: in-class essays written in blue books. Students, of course, are trying to harness it to write their papers for them. Good instructors will be able to figure out whether that happened, but it takes extra time. 

Of course, AI is shaking up the creative world, too. Witness the SAG-AFTRA strike last year. Even in my little corner of the world, writers are debating whether, when, and how to use it.

First, let me say that everyone has to make their own decisions about this. I am not going to condemn anyone for trying to figure out how AI might help them. I’ve heard various things – using it to improve the readability of a blurb, getting ideas for keywords, using it for writing prompts. I consider that minor stuff, as long as it doesn’t impact anyone else’s livelihood.

Which brings me to my real topic. Audiobooks.

There was a kerfuffle on a writer’s FB page not too long ago when he announced that he was going to use AI to create audiobooks. His argument was that he wanted to provide audiobooks to his readers, and that he’d never be able to pay for a voice actor. Hence, his decision. I don’t think he expected the blowback he got, but he stood his ground. 

That’s his choice to make. And here’s a question – if he’d never be able to hire a human voice actor, is he impacting anyone’s livelihood? If no voice actor would ever have received money from him anyway, does it matter that they’re not going to once he produces AI audiobooks?

I don’t know, but it sounds like a slippery slope to me.

I’m in the same boat as this writer. I don’t make enough money to pay voice actors. Hiring a voice actor to create audiobooks from the Jamie Brodie series alone would bankrupt me. Even if I started now, with the Angeles Investigations series, producing two audiobooks a year would wipe out all my income from writing. And, considering that I’m publishing four books a year right now, that’s totally unsustainable. 

So, am I going to produce audiobooks with AI?

Nope.

I have three reasons for this. First, once you let AI read your book, they have it. They’ve trained on it, and your words can be used to generate other AI stories. Or, gods forbid, a college student’s paper. At least, that’s the way that I understand that it works. And I would bet real money that, somewhere in the fine print, there’s a clause stating that the audio version of my book is now legally theirs. Copyright law is complicated and lawyers are even more expensive than voice actors.

Second, The Zon makes enough money off me right now. I’m not interested in letting them use Audible to make even more.

Third, it feels disloyal. Even though I don’t know any voice actors personally, even though I’ll never be able to hire one, I hear readers’ reactions to actor-read audiobooks. They love ‘em, and they fully support the use of real voice actors. Would anyone even buy an AI-read audiobook of mine? I doubt it.

I personally don’t listen to audiobooks (I get too distracted, lose my spot, have to backtrack) so I don’t fully understand the appeal. I know they’re vital for sight-impaired people. But it is possible to listen to a Kindle book with the appropriate settings on your device. I’ve tried that; the voice is very mechanical. I don’t know how AI sounds, but it’s also a mechanical voice. I doubt that it will ever be able to copy the nuances of a human voice. As a singer, I know how the human voice is produced. If they ever do build a computer program with a fully functional larynx and vocal cords and diaphragm that can’t be distinguished from the real thing, it won’t be in my lifetime.

What do you think about this??