AI: Are You Ready for Ebooks by the Borg Queen?

photo by cottonbro studio

 

Recently, I did a blog on AI narrated audiobooks, but that’s not the only place AI is showing up. ChatGPT is one of the big producers where content is created by AI. What kind of content? Any old thing you can think of; essays, blogs, book blurbs, fiction. In February of this year, ChatGPT announced over 200 self-published ebooks in Amazon with ChatGPT as, at least, one of the authors. It’s suspected countless others were published under a human’s name. How did Amazon react to the news? It didn’t. Unless it’s self-reported, Amazon has no method to detect if a book is written by an AI. Nor does Amazon have any rules in place to prevent or encourage AI publications. In effect, it closes its algorithmic eyes and hopes the problem resolves itself. Unfortunately, the more accomplished AI becomes, the more difficult it will be to detect their content or enforce any rules, if and when they become available. To put it simply. Nobody knows if this will be a problem and nobody is willing to do anything about it or even be sure that they should.

Another issue is only a small number of companies have the smarts to deal with the exponential increase in processing power. Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Microsoft, among a few others exercise near-total control of AI technology. It’s an exclusive club that few understand. Even those who write the code, have admitted they don’t have a perfect understanding of certain AI functions. Who will write the rules to protect the rest of us? What happens if AI’s goals don’t align with our own? If you don’t have a clue, watch or read more science fiction. It never ends well.

It isn’t just wild-eyes authors like myself expressing concern. Important people in the field are jumping on the bandwagon. Until recently, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton was the AI expert at Google. He quit his job to speak freely about his concerns, specifically AI can already disperse misinformation. When the internet is flooded with false photos, videos and text how will anyone be able to detect the truth anymore? There is also the fear of AI’s effect on the job market. Better AI interface means it can eventually replace paralegals, personal assistants, and translators among others. As Dr. Hinton says, “I don’t think they should scale this up more until they have understood whether they can control it.” The more sophisticated AI-authors become, the more difficult it also becomes to pinpoint content written by programs like ChatGPT – which ultimately means that any limitations set by Amazon might already be unenforceable.

Will AI take over the self-publishing biz? Should authors be worried?

Maybe yes. Maybe no.

First, you need to understand how AI content is created. Information must be given to a system such as ChatGPT. For instance, say you needed a book blurb. One way to start is by feeding ChatGPT a synopsis. Then the AI grabs content from the internet finding examples and scouring similarities. The more detail in the synopsis, the more accurate and understandable the blurb will be. The problem is there is no way to know where it pulled its data. The internet is open and ChatGPT can “create” a synopsis using language from another similar one. It can even “create” a book by pulling content from anywhere. It doesn’t look for permission. It doesn’t accredit. The worst case scenario is a chunk of content taken from other works and there’s no way to know. The idea of my book plots stolen by others doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzies.

It's a scary thought, but we’re not there yet.

Very few AI books are on the marketplace and they aren’t well-written. AI’s can’t feel human emotions and their writing is flat and not emotionally engaging. However, every author knows, the bottom line for success is the almighty dollar. For an AI book to pose a real threat to authors, they have to be marketed to become a best-seller. No artificial intelligence tool can do that (at least not yet.) However, it’s a sad fact the marketplace only cares about success. If even one AI-written ebook makes the best-seller lists, it’s down the toilet for the rest of us, and all hail the Borg Queen.

Apple AI Audiobook Narrators

 

Audiobooks are nerve-wracking to produce by yourself. Sure, you can offer a shared royalty route with the narrator and hope to find a good one. But a narrator search can be difficult, frustrating, and time-consuming. Not to mention, the entire production process is  daunting and expensive. Where to begin?

According to Apple, not with a human. Apple started production of digital audiobooks using artificial intelligence, specifically two AI narrators named Madison, a female soprano, and Jackson, a baritone. The platform uses advanced speech synthesis technology combined with input from linguists, quality control specialists, and audio engineers. Currently Madison and Jackson are used for fiction and romance only. In the near future, Apple will have two additional digital voices, Helena and Mitchell, for nonfiction and self-development audiobooks.

 If you’d like to hear a sample of Madison click here.

 According to Apple, these are the benefits:

·        The audiobooks will be easy to produce and delivered via preferred partners. The original ebook must be created in either Draft2Digital or Ingram CoreSource.

·        Audiobooks have wholesale price limits. (The website isn’t clear on what they’ll be.)

·        Distribution will be solely via Apple Books and to public/academic libraries.

·        Publisher/author retains audiobook rights, and there are no restrictions on producing and distributing other versions of the audiobook.

How do you make an Apple audiobook?

The ebook must be created with either Draft2Digital or Ingram CoreSouce. Then the author selects the title. Apple has a review process and acceptance isn’t guaranteed. The general requirements are as follows:

·        Ebook must be available on Apple Books.

·        Author must own the audio production rights.

·        Primary category must be romance or fiction. The only subcategories currently accepted are literary, historical, or women’s fiction.

·        Book must be in English.

How good are AI narrators?

Frankly, Madison is fine. A lousy narrator can ruin a good audiobook and I stop listening when any set my teeth on edge. Madison has a pleasant voice with good tone, if a trifle unemotional. If you listen to her, you understand why Apple limits the AI to audiobooks without an exciting chase scene or hilarious denouement. An AI can’t make handle extreme ranges of emotion. Other things AIs can’t do:

·        A multitude of characters in the same book. Their voice is typical of a national newscaster; nothing to determine a regional accents. Nor can an AI handle a stutter, quirky word pronunciations, foreign words and phrases, or fictional words. (Sorry, Samuel Clemens, J. R. R. Tolkien, and me. Our work doesn't qualify.)

·        Difference in ages. All the characters sound roughly the same age.

·        Difference in genders. Male and female characters speak with a similar tone.

 So what’s the big problem with AI?

Even if an AI sounds okay, I have issues. A top-drawer narrator makes an audiobook memorable, and AI has a long way to go to reach that level. Audiobooks are also an art, and frankly, I’m not crazy about the idea of a soulless digital character taking a job from a human who spent years honing a craft. Not to mention, a human narrator adds emotional nuance to every page, something an AI can’t do. AI narrators are still few and far between and until I have no choice, I’ll opt for a human every time.