Audiobooks on cassettes have been around for decades. Since then, audiobooks have come a long, long way. More and more, people are choosing to listen to their books rather than read them. This is a good thing because audiobooks allow the listener to get lost in the story in a way that reading cannot.
This is due, in part, to the rise of technology that allows people to listen to audiobooks while they are driving, working out, doing other activities, and even at night as they drift off to sleep. (Raises hand.)
Alas, the number of published stories available as audiobooks is infinitesimal. A variety of factors contribute to this with the cost to produce audiobooks being the largest. Here’s where advances in technology come increasingly into play.
Google Play, for instance, is but one of several audiobook sellers addressing the disparity by allowing authors who sell eBooks on its platform to generate AI (artificial intelligence) narrated audiobooks. As controversial as the idea of computers replacing human narrators seems, there’s no reason it must be. Listeners who will only listen to human-narrated audiobooks ought never to be inclined to do otherwise. But what about those listeners who are open to AI-narrated audiobooks? No one would argue against their right to do so, right? 
The question of whether to embrace computers narrating audiobooks is a complex one. There are many factors to consider, including the quality of the narration, the variety of available books, and whether the customer is aware of the difference between human and computer-narrated audiobooks.
Take quality, for instance. Many would argue the quality of AI-narrated audiobooks is poor, too robotic, and not worth paying for. The counter to this argument is that ‘quality’ is subjective when it comes to one’s listening experience. Even some human narrators have been described as sounding robotic. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It is for the listener to decide what he or she will enjoy.
As for variety, proponents of AI-narrated audiobooks will argue the variety of human-narrated stories does not exist compared with the number of published stories in the world as well as all the different spoken languages in the world. This is a compelling argument indeed, and it represents a problem that can be addressed easily with AI.
Awareness is a key part of the acceptance of AI narrations. Even as advances in technology continue to bridge the perceived gaps in human versus AI narrations, listeners ought to know exactly what they are paying for and listening to. As of this writing, there is no universal symbol to distinguish the two. Ideally, that will change as the availability of AI narrations becomes more prevalent.
What is to be done? The publishers could simply allow listeners to choose between human and computer narration, but which would be the default? Would the computer narration be included for free, or would listeners have to pay for it? Would the listener have to be on the lookout for the computer narration, or would it be advertised as an option?
The possibility of the computer narration being included for free with a paid book is certainly a viable option, so long as Rights Holders are not mandated. In fact, Amazon employed a similar tactic in the earlier days of eBooks. Publishers were given the option of allowing readers who bought the paperback version of a book to get the eBook for free. Indeed, to date, Amazon allows readers who buy eBooks to purchase available companion narrations at reduced prices. In fact, I am more likely to buy an eBook when there is a Whispersync for Voice companion narration available at a reduced price.
The thing is most eBooks do not have companion narrations. The availability of AI narrations must surely put a dent in the disparity. Google is but one in the ever-growing world of like-minded audiobook producers determined to help pave the way.
One thing is certain, AI narrations are a force to be reckoned with. To paraphrase my favorite quote from Jurassic Park, as uttered by Jeff Goldblum, “I’m simply saying that ‘technology’, uh, finds a way.”
