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VOICE OVER TECHNOLOGY AI And Voice Over: Synthetic Voices Advance,But There's Still Nothing Like The Human Touch  By Debbie GrattanVoice Actor Will AI replace real life voice over actors? That question consistently pops up, and it's a good one to explore in the second part of this
series. Part 1 looked at a voice over talent's transition into the digital era. Here in Part 2, we dive into artificial intelligence (AI), the
impact it's having on the industry, and the idea of synthetic voices
replacing real life actors. While we can never really know what the
future may bring, I am inclined to say no, AI will not replace real life
voice over actors. There are several reasons I feel this way:
And those are just a few of the reasons off the top of my head. I'll
go a bit deeper later in this article, right after we flesh out what's
going on with AI in the world of voice over. AI AND VOICE OVER TECHNOLOGY Voice technology has become more sophisticated. Examples include:
SYNTHETIC, ON-DEMAND VOICE OVERS Today there is software
that produces text-to-speech (TTS) voice overs as needed. The TTS
voices are often synthetic voices generated by AI and other technology
to help them sound less robotic and more human. Other technologies create a voice bank of a real person's voice that can later be used
to create synthetic speech. Here, the voices originally come from human
actors, but the sounds are broken down and then put together to produce
the desired order needed for the project. On the surface, it may appear as if technology is rapidly honing in
on the voice over industry, ready to replace the real life actors. And
for some uses, perhaps it has. But that doesn't mean game over. DOWNSIDE OF ARTIFICIAL VOICES True, starting costs for using synthetic voices might be lower than
hiring a professional voice over actor. They may also give a rapid-fast
turnaround time, along with the ability to endlessly manipulate the
recording as desired. But the pros of AI have yet to outweigh the cons. The cons of using synthetic voices include:
THE HUMAN TOUCH (& SOUND) MATTERS Even though they try to make a variety of different sounding AI
voices, there is really no way to direct to the nuance that some clients
desire. When you take the humanness out of voices, you take away what connects us to our audience: human emotion. Marketing relies heavily on human emotion, as up to 90% of our decisions are based on emotion. In fact, emotional branding has become one of the foremost ways many brands attempt to connect with their audience. Real voice over actors are still the only way to provide the
emotional connection that synthetic voices have yet to master. Hiring a
seasoned voice actor also brings on added benefits, such as:
END OF THE DIGITAL ERA? Voice technology has gotten better – but it's still not to the point
where it can substitute for a real person with real emotions. And even
though advances may continue to be made, experts like author Greg Satell
say we're looking at the end of the digital era. That doesn't mean we'll stop using digital technology. But it does
mean we won't necessarily see the same massive explosion of new
technologies that we've seen of late. "We've spent the last few decades learning how to move fast," Satell
notes. "Over the next few decades we're going to have to relearn how to
go slow again." In other words, slower and more in-depth, using all this technology for meaningful
projects that go beyond automating robo calls or shutting off porch
lights with a voice command. "We are awash in nifty gadgets," Satell writes, "but in many ways we are no better off than we were 30 years ago." VOICE OVER'S GREATEST CHALLENGES - AND JOYS This all brings me to one final thing I noticed as I was thinking and
writing about changes in the voice over industry. It can be summed
up with a quote from French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (written
in 1849):
No matter what has changed in the voice over in the way of technology
and work methods, two fundamental elements remain the same. One is the
greatest challenge and the other is the greatest joy. The greatest challenge is still finding and
securing work. Finding people who are doing the hiring and getting in
front of them. True, you now get in front of them with an email instead
of an in-person connection, but you still need a way to stand out from
the crowd. The greatest joy will always be connecting with clients and delivering exactly what they're looking for.
Another thing that has stayed the same is advice I give to
new talent looking to break into the industry. The most important thing
is a good, clean sound – and the willingness to work hard for what you
want. Just because technology has made some things faster and easier
doesn't mean technology does everything for you. People still have to
put in the legwork if they want to succeed – in anything. I feel lucky to have entered the voice over world when I did, as it's given me a chance to embrace a wide range of different experiences.
While I miss the in-person work with other actors (even though we have
ways to live-connect digitally with each other now, via Source Connect,
Zoom and other methods), I also love the ability to be around my family
working from home. Not to mention living anywhere I want and still
being able to get a steady stream of work. I'd also say it's actually easier for me to find work today than it
was when I first started. I have a lot of fingers in a lot of different
pools. A variety of auditions coming to me from many sources. And clients can find me by searching for female voice talent
(or something related) online. SEO is a wonderful thing. Optimization of one's website is very important. Plus, I have a large stable of clients built up over the years that I stay in touch with. Once again, the
human connection comes into play. As in any meaningful career, it's not
only about the work you do but the relationships you develop. Relationships you just can't get from technology, no matter how fast,
cheap or accessible it may be. ----------------------- ABOUT DEBBIE Debbie
Grattan is a full-time voice actor based in Michigan with more than 20
years of experience behind a microphone, voicing tens of thousands of
scripts for many hundreds of customers worldwide - with a warm and
friendly style on everything from corporate narrations and training
videos to Disney park-wide announcements and national TV and radio
commercials. Working with scores of well-known clients including BMW,
Verizon, Microsoft, Samsung and HBO, she seemlessly shifts between
conversational, humorous and dramatic reads. She is also a veteran
actor, with a degree in Drama from UC Irvine and a resume of awards for
her performances from the Los Angeles Times,
Drama-Logue, and a Theatre Woman of the Year Award in Southern CA. She
has also appeared in TV movies and episodes, commercials, infomercials
and other types of acting - both live and filmed - and performed as a
corporate spokesperson. Email: debbie@debbiegrattan.com |
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Comments (1)
Greg Keith Porter
12/2/2022 at 11:29 AM
Hi Debbie. Thank you for addressing in depth, the subject of AI as it pertains to the voice over industry. Hearing a digitally created and non-human message is distracting, annoying and leaves an insensitive and distrusting impression with me. I often interpret the usage as a method of being cheap, impersonal and slick which puts a wall between me (the listener) and the product line. Yes, I perform voice overs. Yes, I am also a customer that expects engagement with a “live” human being more often than not.
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