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A Virtual Voice Tells My Story
AI demonstrates signs of life in a surprising way
You may have chosen to listen to a flat, lifeless voice recite a news story while you prepped dinner or had your eyes focused elsewhere. While convenient, this newfound alternative to reading often comes up lacking — with mispronounced words or awkward intonation.
That’s why I was initially reluctant when an email from Audible arrived offering a beta version of its virtual voice for my deeply personal book, Silent Sorority.
I wondered if my carefully chosen words might sound like they were emanating from the Quantum Cloud VIII, which I first gazed upon in San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art in 2017.
It had been a few years since I’d cracked my book open or clicked on the cover art in my Kindle. With a late spring snow storm on the way, I settled into the sofa with my PC and opened the Audible beta. There were multiple voices (male and female) available for experimentation. I chose one that approximated my communication style and tinkered with the pacing and pronunciation.
At first, it was an academic exercise: can I locate and train a female voice to relay my words in a way that sounded remotely human? Before I knew it, I was both narrator coach and audience. The virtual voice slowly began to develop more…
