The Hobbit
Comparing two versions of an audiobook narration.
Oh boy, you’ve stepped in it this time, technology.
The highly acclaimed company ElevenLabs posted one of the two audio samples below as the example of their Generative AI narrating an audiobook… and not just any audiobook… they went for The Hobbit.
Okay… here’s what to do:
Listen to Examples A & B below. (about 2 minutes each)
Take the little survey.
(opt) Read a few bits of my feedback on what I’m hearing.
Be a good person. Sampling prohibited. Take the survey once.
Here are my first 5 critiques of the AI Generated narration.
Example A, if you hadn’t figured it out, is what ElevenLabs posted on its site as the example of an audiobook narration, and downloaded by me on 27 Feb 2024. This critique is based on only the first 30 seconds.
the pacing is too fast…
this is the very beginning of a very long story… for children… to be listened to in wonder and amazement… by the young at heart
the first moment is missed…
that is the moment of expectation between “there lived” and “a hobbit”… sentence 1, the title of the book, the expectation… what would live in a hole in the ground? what? that’s what a hobbit is? tell me more
aggressive coloration…
“nasty, dirty, wet” etc. are too strong… they’re not the point, they’re the contrast to the real point which is the second moment
the second moment is missed…
in contrast to all of the negatives is a single word… “comfort”… which should be narrated comfortably… this is indeed one of the threads of this book/story, that we live for peace and comfort, and yet we rise to the seemingly impossible because it is necessary
lack of imagination…
the careful desciption of the hobbit’s hole has been recited like a litany… lacking in the colors and cadences summoned by a narrator’s internal visualization & emotional reaction to what is being read
Ask yourself these questions:
Is Example A what you want to hear?
Or, what you want your children to hear?
… for hours on end?
We should realize that talented and dedicated people are losing their jobs because this technology is less expensive.
Yes, there are times when this tech makes sense, and times when it does not.
Let’s explore this, and learn to talk about it together.
Won’t you take a minute to share this around?
Let’s hear what people prefer to hear… what they think… what they feel.
Subsequent posts will continue providing examples and discussions… and, naturally, I’ll follow up with a post summarizing the survey and your comments.
In case you were wondering… that’s me reading Example B.
Recorded in about 15 minutes in December 2023. 1 punch and roll edit. Just a touch of effects.
