Apple begins offering software read-aloud audiobooks

Apple has begun offering audiobooks that the company reads aloud through software-generated speech. The software warns in advance that the voices that the books have recorded are digital.

Apple Books AI Narration

The notification that it is a non-human narrator can be heard as a fragment of a few seconds before users start the audiobook. Also, the Apple Books interface says “told by Apple Books,” with an i icon next to it. Pressing that i-icon tells you that a digital voice ‘based on a human narrator’ is reading the book. Apple has information about the digital votes posted online.

Because Apple makes the software to read the books, not publishers, Apple gets a share of the proceeds, reports The Guardian. Technology makes it easier to produce audiobooks. Converting written books into audiobooks is a process that can take weeks and cost thousands of dollars per issue. This can be done faster and cheaper with software.

The downside is that Apple can now claim part of the profit for books in its own Books app. Moreover, it is still unknown how listeners respond to the books read aloud by software. Competitor Amazon does not yet have the technology in its audio book service Audible. For the time being, this is a small section in the Books app, which can be found by searching for ‘AI narration’ in that app.