In the international press, there is a phenomenon called audiobooks or talking books, which have been available to serve the blind since the thirties of the last century. Tape-recorded books didn’t begin until the 1970s when they were used to serve travelers, but they didn’t catch on until smartphones were added.Since the beginning of the iPhone era, audio books have grown steadily. The industry has snapped a decade of growth, a trend expected to accelerate with Amazon, Apple and Google cloning devices that mimic the human voice with artificial intelligence.

Audiobook sales are now estimated to be more than $5 billion, and nearly $2 billion of that is in the United States alone, the world’s largest market for audiobooks, according to projections by publishing industry research firm World Satisfied. Revenue is expected to grow by 26.4% every year from 2022 to 2030.

And World Wide Web Research predicts that audiobook sales will exceed $35 billion by 2030, making audiobooks the fastest growing book in the world, and making audiobooks another market for artificial intelligence. Through artificial intelligence. , via simulated microphones for vocal performers.

Google Play offers the ability to create auto-narrated audiobooks as long as publishers own the rights to the audiobook or audio article.

None of this is done without the publisher’s permission, nor can any consumer legally create it themselves.

“For many publishers, producing audiobooks can be a significant investment,” said Judy Chang, managing director of product at Google Play Books.

Paying voice artists is part of the cost equation, Judy said, which is why publishers can assess demand for audiobooks before investing in their titles.

People love audio books, making it second only to music as the most popular audio product. But the use of AI voice in audiobooks is prompting what can be described as a unique form of personal use of the new technology. This may be the limiting case for how far consumers (and companies) can or will go — at least for now — in replacing human narrators and performers for computer voices.

But researchers say that this tool may help but not enrich the human factor because it depends to a large extent on the perception of the listener with the voice conveyed by the actor. So, getting voice from AI is not easy and communicating with listeners is even more difficult.