Summary:
- What is AI voice?
- How does AI voice benefit brands?
- How does AI voice benefit voice talent?
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to advance, it's no surprise that it has started to impact the voice talent industry. With the emergence of AI voices, many people are undoubtedly questioning how this new technology will affect voice actors and their careers.
Voice actors are professionals who use their vocal talents to bring characters and scripts to life. They work in a variety of industries, including animation, film, television, video games, and commercials. They create unique character voices and inflections, bringing emotion and personality to their performances. Also known as voice artists, fitting as what they do is truly an art form.
What is AI voice?
AI voice, or synthetic voice, mimics human speech through the use of artificial intelligence and deep learning, and can be used by converting text to speech or speech to speech. Brands and individual creators can use stock or custom voices to expedite content creation, develop content in multiple languages, fix audio issues in post-production, and more.
Some use cases for AI voice include:
- Advertising: Brands can produce new content on demand using custom-approved voice models for celebrities, athletes, and influencers.
- Virtual Assistants: Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and other voice-activated virtual assistants are powered by AI voice technology.
- Audiobooks: AI voice is used to generate audiobooks quickly and efficiently with minimal studio and reading time.
- Podcasts: Podcasts can use AI voice to generate voiceovers for their introductions or advertisements and generate content in different languages.
- TV and Film: AI technology can be used to generate voiceovers for foreign films or TV shows, fix audio during production, provide audio descriptions, and more.
- Customer Service: Businesses can utilize AI voice to assist customers in-app, on websites, and over the phone in a way that resembles human interaction.
The rise of AI-generated voice has the potential to affect the voice acting industry in several ways, but the greater adoption of the technology in this industry doesn’t equate to fewer opportunities for artists, especially when it presents so many opportunities for brands and the artists themselves.
Benefits of AI voice for brands
There are multiple ways for brands to use AI voice in ways that don’t replace voice talent, but rather supplement the work of a voice actor, especially in the cases of smaller projects or lower-level needs where it may not make sense to hire a real person.
Cost-effective
One of the most significant impacts of AI voice is that it offers a cost-effective solution for companies that require voiceovers. With AI voices, businesses can get high-quality voiceovers at a lower cost, since there’s a minimal need for studio recording time.
Faster turnaround time
Another significant advantage of AI voices is that they can produce voiceovers in a matter of minutes, compared to traditional voice actors who require more time due to recording and editing. This could be particularly useful for companies that require voiceovers for urgent projects, tight deadlines, or producing large volumes of content.
Benefits of AI voice for talent
While AI voice can present significant benefits to brands for its efficiency and accessible costs, it's important to note that synthetic voices can lack the emotional depth and personality that traditional voice actors bring to their performances. While the technology has come a long way including the ability to recreate yawns, whispers, singing, and laughing, there are still nuances and subtleties that AI voices sometimes can’t replicate, which means that voice actors still have a valuable role to play in the industry.
Both can co-exist, resulting in additional revenue streams
Veritone works with dozens of voice actors, as part of our Premium Voice roster, who choose to license their AI voice for certain projects and their “real” voice for projects that are either more nuanced or simply, more fun for them to record. This way, their AI voice can be working for them while they take on other projects.
Vocal rest
As noted earlier, voice actors of course rely on their vocal cords for work—in other words, their voice is their livelihood. There are some projects that have them speaking at a certain cadence, volume, and tone for hours a day, days on end. This can not only become very intense and repetitive, it can be extremely taxing on their vocal cords. Putting their verified AI voice to work while they take a vocal rest or recover from an injury or illness allows them to keep working and avoid any delays, loss of income, or setbacks.
Greater flexibility
With AI voice, voice actors can create their own custom voice with minimal recording time, which they can use to create voiceovers in virtually any language, accent, or dialect. They can also have total control over vocal qualities such as intonation, pauses, and more in order to create natural-sounding voiceovers with their verified AI voice.
More opportunities
Since AI voice presents such a quick and cost-effective turnaround with the ability to automate translations, voice talent has the potential to take on even more opportunities, despite full schedules. This also extends beyond voice actors to celebrities, influencers, athletes, and other public figures who can take on voiceover roles during their busiest seasons.
Conclusion
It’s clear to see that AI voice technology is changing the voice talent industry, but in a way that’s actually augmenting the talent themselves. It's important to remember that the technology isn’t here to replace traditional voice actors—it’s a tool to enhance human performance and capability.
Real actors and human voices still have a valuable role to play across industries, and there will always be a demand for their unique talents. Now, with AI voice, actors can extend their reach with different languages, have faster turnaround times, and have the ability to take on more opportunities than ever before.
The voice talent industry is evolving, and AI voice technology is a part of that evolution. Voice actors can still find success in their careers, but they’ll need to adapt to new technologies and find creative ways to use their talents.
To learn more about AI voice and how it can benefit your business or discover how to create custom voices that fit your brand, visit Veritone Voice.
