Not sure if your hypothetical was meant to be a reference to the absolutely hilarious classic “Gilbert Gottfried reads 50 Shades of Gray”, but it has me wondering how much of the inherent comedy comes from “the voice” and how much comes from the idea that the man himself sat down and recorded those lines.
> wondering how much of the inherent comedy comes from “the voice” and how much comes from the idea that the man himself sat down and recorded those lines
For me it came from the voice; I hadn't heard of Gilbert Gottfried as a specific person until I read this discussion. The reaction faces of the women listeners were also amusing.
I still like getting surprised when a new or unorthodox narrator knocks it out of the park but I’d really enjoy a “salvage this purchase” exit hatch with a AI voice alternative. I’d even pay a buck or two on top of an existing purchase to automatically fix a bad narration.
Head over to Audible reviews, some books are widely considered to be great books as written but the audiobook is reviewed as one to be avoided because it was recorded poorly, the narrator paced it wrong, they had an annoying voice, they couldn’t do a voice of the opposite gender, whatever.
Plus it seems like a great accessibility feature. Many books are recorded for the vision impaired community by volunteers and that’s admirable, but some of the AI today does a much better job.
These are some very fair points. There was one book 'Electron Fire' all about the creation of the transistor, I think. I say that because never have I heard a more unenthused narrator. Makes Henry Kissinger sound like a dramatic actor.
Any AI voice could save that one. Any of them! Heck the original voice on the 1984 Machintosh could do better.
https://youtu.be/XkLqAlIETkA (Extremely NSFW without headphones)