Mon Sep 09 15:46:53 UTC 2024: ## Audible to Train AI Voice Clones of Narrators in US Beta Test

**New York, NY** – Amazon-owned audiobook platform Audible is launching a US-only beta program this week that will allow narrators to create AI-generated voice clones of themselves. This move, announced on Audible’s creator marketplace, aims to speed up audiobook production and bring more titles to the platform.

Participants in the beta will submit voice recordings to train their AI replicas, granting them control over which projects they choose to audition for, whether using their live voices or AI clones. Narrators will be able to edit the pronunciation and pacing of their AI voices and receive compensation through a “Royalty Share” model on a “title-by-title basis.”

While the current beta allows narrators to create voice replicas “for free,” Amazon suggests a potential cost for the feature in the future. Any audiobooks narrated using AI voice clones will be labeled as such on the platform.

This development follows Amazon’s introduction of fully synthetic voices for Kindle Direct Publishing authors last year. Since then, over 40,000 Audible titles have been produced using virtual voices, raising concerns from human narrators about job security.

Audible emphasizes that narrators retain control over their voice replicas and will not be used without their permission. However, the rollout of AI-generated voices has sparked debate about the future of human narration in the audiobook industry.

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