Amazon Finds a Path for AI to Augment Creatives
When I first saw this headline a couple weeks back, I assumed it was going to lead to yet more doom and gloom about the future of AI with regard to creative endeavors. And perhaps it has, but this entire notion actually strikes me as decidedly positive for pretty much all sides:
What's better, an AI recreation of an author's and/or professional actor's voice or a generic "virtual voice"? The latter has clearly taken off because it's the only option, so why not give the former a try? You can say: why not get the author/actor to do it themselves without AI? And, sure. But again, the reality is that this just wasn't happening. All sorts of reasons for that, no doubt. But this potentially yields a better experience for all parties involved.
The fear here would be that while Amazon is paying now, in the future, they might pull that rug. But it's hard to see that happening given the obvious backlash it would cause. The economics might have to change – for worse or better, by the way – but again, this feels like a win/win situation.
96%! It's easy to think all books have audio version now because all of the largest books do. But self-publishing is the key here. Why should only massive, nation-wide best sellers have access to such features to help sell their books?
