Human or Mechanical Voices? You choose.

I’m honored to have many talented former students who today are highly successful in various fields. One is Jenny Pullen Myers who operates Jenny Audio, a broadcasting and media production company creating well-received audio books for authors. My publisher says that 5% of books are in audio format now, but I believe that number will increase. On her Jenny Audio Facebook page, Jenny mentions discussions fearing that publishers may replace live audiobook narrators with computer-generated voices. She provided this great photo-quote by Stephen Fry, “Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators.” Well-said!

Frankly, I hadn’t heard any computer-generated voice replacement discussion and don’t believe it’s a credible threat. I can’t picture a world where live voice artists are replaced by a male or female Siri, no matter how wide the range of fascinating accents. I quickly weary of telephone on-hold voices telling me, “Your call is extremely important to us and will be answered in the order received.” Many on-hold phone messages contain grammatical errors repeated in my ear ad infinitum. In my opinion, Jenny’s job is safe.

The human voice is deeply comforting. I can’t imagine Alexander Scourby’s classic Bible readings being auto-generated by a non-spiritual or a-spiritual robot, no matter how clear and crisp the enunciation.

The ringing conviction in Scourby’s tones enhances and brings his passages to life. A Chicago Tribune article heralds him as having, “the greatest voice ever recorded.”

I say no to mechanized substitutes. Nothing replaces answering the phone or going to the door and hearing the voice of a loved one. I’m guarding the voicemail of a sweet, deceased young friend not because her message was significant—it wasn’t—but because the very sound of her voice remains dear to me.

I don’t believe voice artists are at risk. What’s your opinion and preference? Jenny and I and voice artists everywhere want to know your thoughts. Please comment, and have great weeks leading up to Christmas!