interview<\/a> with RSA’s Matthew Taylor if you wanted to check it out)<\/em>. In a throwaway comment Matthew joked about how for the last 8 years we’ve been promised that driverless cars are 5 years away.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIt struck me that the debate over AI Voices has been a little like that. It’s true of much technology. It happens eventually, but rarely as quickly as promised. In 1987, I took a 2-year computer programming course, where we were told that by the year 2000, computers would do everything, and we would have a life of leisure. It didn’t quite turn out that way, but there’s no denying that the direction of travel has been a little of what they promised. Sort of. At least if we forget about the \u201clife of leisure\u201d bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Automation In The World Of Voice Over.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Those of us in the voice-over world have been terrified for God knows how many years at the promise of AI voices. Every time a new product comes along, I brace myself and take a listen, thinking “this is it\u2026 we’re doomed”. Then, I always backtrack because the product is always something of a disappointment. It is missing some element. The human connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m not so complacent as to think the day will never come, it will, absolutely, but often those in the tech world don’t quite seem to get the importance of emotion and the part it plays in our work. A \u201cvoice generator\u201d with a cut and paste window, plus angry and sad settings is their goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Emote is Human. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When I entered the world of being an actor<\/a>, even after a 25-year career in radio, emotion was something of a revelation. \u00a0 To understand how an internal feeling could influence just quite how a word was said.\u00a0 How a need could be embedded in a sentence.\u00a0 How a relationship could be defined by the way we speak to each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nYour voice can be completely different when your heart is open versus when you’re speaking through gritted teeth. Often this kind of nuance is hard to put into words. It\u2019s sometimes why casting directions are so vague. They can’t quite say what it is they\u2019re looking for, but they’ll know it when they hear it. It\u2019s a feeling, and when they hear it, it will be a human connection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you produce content, you will always want to keep one eye on the future of technology in your business. That’s being pragmatic. You’ll also want to be sure that your product’s quality isn’t compromised by rushing into experimental ways of working. One day, the robots might take over, but in the meantime, you need to settle for a one-off performance. A Human Voice Generator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Robot](\"https:\/\/tonycollinsfogarty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/phillip-glickman-robot-800.jpg\")