Clearly that Spotify's audiobook company cooperated with Apple's AI narrator creation using the clause ``provide voice data for machine learning training''
Apple has added a read-aloud function by artificial intelligence (AI) to its own e-book application '
Audiobook narrators complain Apple may have used them to train AI voices | AppleInsider
https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/02/14/audiobook-narrators-complain-apple-may-have-used-them-to-train-ai-voices
In early January 2023, Apple implemented ``AI Narration'', an AI reading function, in the Book app.
If you actually search for 'AI narration' in the book app, multiple candidates will be displayed as follows.
These audiobooks have the words 'narrated by Apple Books'. Tap this.
Then, 'This audiobook can be enjoyed with digital voice (Madison) synthesized from narration spoken by people' is displayed, and you can see that it is an audiobook with synthesized voice by AI.
If the item 'Narrator' at the bottom of the audiobook screen says 'Apple Books', the narration by synthesized voice is added.
Some people have criticized the creation of audiobooks using AI-generated speech, as it would eliminate the jobs of actors and voice actors who have been in charge of reading out audiobooks. .
On the other hand, Apple said, ``Although more and more readers are listening to audiobooks, only a small percentage of them are compatible with audiobooks, and millions remain unsupported. Many authors, especially those who are independent authors or those associated with small publishers, are unable to create audiobooks due to the high production costs and complexity.With Apple Books digital narration, everyone can It will make it easier for people to create audiobooks, and it will also be possible to meet the growing demand by making the audiobook feature available to more books by listeners. It is a valuable tool that complements the book and will help us deliver audiobooks to as many books and as many users as possible, ”he emphasizes the benefits of using synthesized speech for narration.
Until now, it was unclear how Apple created a synthetic voice that speaks so much more fluently than Siri, but WIRED reports that an audiobook production company called Findaway, which was acquired by Spotify in June 2022. However, it is clear that he provided voice to Apple and cooperated in creating synthetic voice by AI.
When Findaway contracts with an actor who works as a narrator, it has a clause that `` gives the right to use audio book files for machine learning training '', and provides audio files to Apple based on this clause. pattern. Andy Garcia Ruse, who has actually contracted with Findaway as a narrator and has worked on creating audiobooks, said, ``We use our voices to train something that is intended to take our place. It seems like a strange thing to use, ”he commented. Actors who worked for Findaway say it's unclear when the clause was added, but some people weren't told about it when they signed the contract.
In response, the actor-related American labor union ' SAG-AFTRA ' seems to have filed a complaint against Findaway. None of Findaway, Spotify, and Apple have publicly commented, but SAG-AFTRA said in an email to members, 'Agreed with Apple to immediately stop using files for machine learning purposes. reached,” he explained. The deprecation was ``dating back to the files that have been used since the beginning of this practice''. However, even at the time of writing the article, Apple is using AI synthesized voice for the narration of the audiobook.
Jane Love, SAG-AFTRA's National Director of Audiobooks, has confirmed that Apple's access to Findaway's audio data has been suspended.
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