Apple users can now have their novels and texts read out to them by an AI-based or digital narrator, according to a report by Ars Technica.
(For insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business, and policy, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today’s Cache.)
The feature was available through the Apple Books marketplace. The AI-based narrators have names - such as ‘Madison’ - likely so that users can tell apart the different voices and intonations.
The Guardian reported that Apple had planned to roll out the feature in late 2022 but postponed due to developments in the tech sector such as Meta’s layoffs and billionaire Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover of Twitter.
Apple reportedly approached publishers and offered to bear the costs of recording the books while promising to pay royalties to the authors. Reactions were mixed.
There are concerns in the publishing sector that AI tools will be used by large companies to cut costs and thus take away employment from human audio book narrators and other creative professionals.
Readers have also stressed on the need for accurate pronunciation of non-English words and names; a human narrator native to the book’s culture is more expensive but less likely to make such errors when compared to the AI-based narrator.
Audiobooks are emerging as a lucrative sector as they raked in more than $1 billion in revenue last year, according to The Guardian. Audiobook apps and marketplaces like Amazon’s Audible have enjoyed more popularity and greater celebrity endorsements in recent years.
