Listenable Wikipedia pages

[msfry]

This page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg
can be listened to, and it doesn't sound computer generated, so they obviously are using human readers. BUT, the audio file does not actually track what is posted on the page.

I checked out some of our book and author pages, and didn't find any that are listenable.

What do we know about this? Are there plans to make all the pages listenable? Are they looking for volunteers?

[Penumbra]

It sounds to me like the audio is from a previous version of the wiki page. You can find information on recording wiki articles here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Spoken_Wikipedia

[quartertone]

This page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg
can be listened to, and it doesn't sound computer generated, so they obviously are using human readers. BUT, the audio file does not actually track what is posted on the page.

I checked out some of our book and author pages, and didn't find any that are listenable.

What do we know about this? Are there plans to make all the pages listenable? Are they looking for volunteers?

Oh, interesting.

I found this section. According to the page history, it's relatively new (2021)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Spoken_Wikipedia

Edit: penumbra beat me to it

[msfry]

Thanks to both penumbra and quartertone for your rapid responses. I read the page link you both sent and have satisfied myself that I would not enjoy recording pages that are likely to change, rendering the audio outdated, and needing redoing, or discarding. And they don't yet have a proofing system in place. I like the promise of permanency with Librivox. I may try listening to a computer reading of a page, as described, just for the experience of it.

[quartertone]

I may try listening to a computer reading of a page, as described, just for the experience of it.

I found this article where she test-listens to excerpts of audiobooks and tries to guess if they were read by AI or human.

https://www.businessinsider.com/apples-ai-narrated-audiobooks-i-listened-apple-books-ai-narrator-2023-1

It was actually an interesting exercise. I didn't have as much trouble telling them apart as the writer did, but AI voices are definitely improving. Perhaps in a few years they'll be able to correctly intone the emotional nuances and do single-narrator dramatic character voices like a human does.

[quartertone]

Here's another thing I found.

https://deepzen.io

The "Alice" voice sample was probably the most convincing, though still not perfect. And it didn't make any character voice changes. Pretty good though. I could see AI voices coming into heavy use for non-fiction where emotional expressivity is not really a big deal.

[msfry]

I may try listening to a computer reading of a page, as described, just for the experience of it.

I found this article where she test-listens to excerpts of audiobooks and tries to guess if they were read by AI or human.

https://www.businessinsider.com/apples-ai-narrated-audiobooks-i-listened-apple-books-ai-narrator-2023-1

It was actually an interesting exercise. I didn't have as much trouble telling them apart as the writer did, but AI voices are definitely improving. Perhaps in a few years they'll be able to correctly intone the emotional nuances and do single-narrator dramatic character voices like a human does.

I listened, and got the first 4 right, wrong on the 5th (a human). Something about the vowels always gives it away. So it's true, some human readers do sound like automatons.

[msfry]

Here's another thing I found.

https://deepzen.io

The "Alice" voice sample was probably the most convincing, though still not perfect. And it didn't make any character voice changes. Pretty good though. I could see AI voices coming into heavy use for non-fiction where emotional expressivity is not really a big deal.

AI has definitely come a long way and one day we will listen to our web pages rather than read them. That will be awesome for sight-impaired, or for people driving or sitting in waiting rooms for doctor's appointments. There is way more printed material generated than there are humans available to record them.

I opened a new thread today, discussing GPT's history and future in general, and widening the discussion of AI's future.
ChatGPT, and GPT-4, and AI in our futures

[Penumbra]

I think the wiki project is the perfect place for AI voice generation since pages can change often and at unpredictable times. Probably some day the voice version will be generated on the fly so out-of-sink issues won't exist.

[loon]

I may try listening to a computer reading of a page, as described, just for the experience of it.

I found this article where she test-listens to excerpts of audiobooks and tries to guess if they were read by AI or human.

https://www.businessinsider.com/apples-ai-narrated-audiobooks-i-listened-apple-books-ai-narrator-2023-1

It was actually an interesting exercise. I didn't have as much trouble telling them apart as the writer did, but AI voices are definitely improving. Perhaps in a few years they'll be able to correctly intone the emotional nuances and do single-narrator dramatic character voices like a human does.

I found it was very hard to be objective after the first 3 or 4 words - I had already made up my mind, and any further evidence wasn't going to change my vote. Luckily, that first guess turned out to be right all 5 times.

The AI voices were all quite good / listenable.