APPLE LAUNCHES AI-VOICED AUDIOBOOKS

Thu 05 January 2023:

The multi-billion dollar audiobook market may be significantly impacted by tech giant Apple’s quietly launch of a library of books read by artificial intelligence.

According to The Verge, the feature signals a significant change in audiobook publishing, which now involves authors narrating their own books, a process that may take weeks and set publishers back thousands of dollars.

The feature is reportedly only accessible for romance and fiction novels for now, with two digital voices now available (Madison and Jackson) and two more (Helena and Mitchell) on the way for non-fiction books, according to Apple’s website.

“We’re starting with fiction and romance, and are accepting ebook submissions in these genres,” said the company.

At the moment, the service is only available in English, and Apple is unusually picky about the types of books its digital narrators can read, said the report.

If users search for “AI narration” in the Books app, they will find a series of romance novels with a small notice saying they’re “Narrated by Apple Books”.

“This is an Apple Books audiobook narrated by a digital voice based on a human narrator,” reads each audiobook listing that uses the company’s digital narration service.

Listings include a mix of free and paid audiobooks available, and the artificial voices are about as good as users would expect — perfectly intelligible but with an unmistakably artificial edge that lacks the warmth of a human storyteller, the report added.

The popularity of the audiobook market has exploded in recent years, with technology companies scrambling to gain a foothold. Sales last year jumped 25%, bringing in more than $1.5bn. Industry insiders believe the global market could be worth more than $35bn by 2030.

Apple and Amazon – which owns audiobook market-leader Audible – had previously indicated they were exploring AI narration technology, but Google had been the most public about its efforts and breakthroughs.

Apple recently pulled in $78.13bn from its high-margin services business, which includes sales from apps, as well as its music, gaming and streaming services.