Lightspeed Ventures-backed audio platform Pocket FM introduced it has partnered with voice-cloning firm ElevenLabs to rapidly convert textual content content material, resembling script, into audio collection utilizing AI.
Pocket FM, which raised $103 million in Collection D funding in March, advised everydayai on the time that it was already experimenting with the power to transform textual content content material into audio utilizing ElevenLabs‘ tech. Now, the India-based firm has expanded the partnership to make the conversion software accessible to all creators over the following few weeks.
Within the check section, Pocket FM already produced 30,000 hours of audio collection utilizing ElevenLab’s AI tech. With the brand new roll-out, the startup expects to triple its content material library of over 100,000 hours of audio content material this 12 months. Pocket FM additionally mentioned that through the experimental section, the AI-powered instruments helped it minimize the price of producing audio by 90%.
Pocket FM’s co-founder and CTO Prateek Dixit advised everydayai over a name that with this partnership, the corporate needs to make it simpler for writers to transform their writings into audio collection.
“We now have over 250,000 writers (together with those on the corporate’s Pocket Novel writing plaform) and this partnership decreases the price of establishing and recording audio for them,” he mentioned.
“Even with an excellent arrange of recording instruments and gear, writers can produce roughly half-hour of high-quality audio content material per day. With the AI instruments, this output might be 10 instances extra,” he added.
Pocket FM has constructed a software integrating ElevenLabs tech, by means of which it’s providing 50 voices for writers who need to convert their content material. ElevenLabs’ co-founder Mati Staniszewski mentioned that his firm’s software understands the context of the writing and infers feelings by means of the voice robotically.
“Working with Pocket FM, we’re deploying our newer fashions that perceive the style of writing and are emotionality higher,” Staniszewski mentioned.
Dixit famous that primarily based on knowledge from customers’ engagement with this sort of content material, the platform additionally plans to recommend voices that work nicely for writers in a selected style.
Pocket FM shouldn’t be the one audio collection platform experimenting with AI-powered instruments. Google-backed Kuku FM is utilizing GPT-4, Claude, BandLab and even ElevenLabs to assist its writers with completely different phases of creation, together with refining script, producing thumbnails, including sound results and changing textual content into audio.
Kuku FM advised everydayai that it is usually experimenting with utilizing visible era instruments resembling Midjourney and Runway to create adverts associated to content material.
High quality of content material and impression on artists
The promise of AI-powered instruments is to generate extra content material quicker, however that doesn’t imply the content material is sweet. Pocket FM’s reply to aiding discovery and surfacing high quality content material is making its discovery algorithm subtle and experimenting with person engagement.
“If a author publishes an audio collection, we floor that content material to a choose variety of customers and observe engagement metrics. If these metrics are constructive, we additional propagate that,” Dixit mentioned.
Kuku FM mentioned it’s working with its high quality management staff to make sure solely high-quality content material is promoted on its app, even when creators have used AI within the course of.
“We realized the significance of getting a human High quality Management staff on the middle of our decision-making with regards to audio content material manufacturing. We now have developed a core staff of Content material Producers who’ve excessive possession & authority on the inventive requirements,” the corporate’s co-foudner and CEO Lal Chand Bisu mentioned.
Using AI might result in faster outcomes and an even bigger content material library for these platforms, however it can additionally scale back the roles of voiceover artists working with them. India’s Affiliation of Voiceover Artists (AVA) has expressed its issues about AI taking up.
“If AI takes over, we’re completed. As voice artists, we have to get some regulation in place in order that our livelihood is protected,” Amarinder Singh Sodhi, the affiliation’s common secretary, advised Indian publication Scroll.
Sodi additionally advised Scroll about incidents the place voiceover artists had been referred to as into the studio to report samples to coach AI with out acquiring their consent or informing them.
“On an emotional stage, it scares me. By utilizing AI, you might be basically diluting the human expertise of storytelling. You lose out on an emotional connection,” Delhi-based voiceover artist Aditya Mattoo advised everydayai.
He added that giving entry to premium voices to individuals who don’t have the style and ability to provide high quality content material will result in the market getting flooded by unhealthy content material.
Voice artists in different components of the world have additionally raised issues about AI impacting their jobs. And regardless of working with a few of the AI corporations, they really feel uncomfortable about their voices being altered.
Once we requested in regards to the impression of AI-powered voice era on Pocket FM, the corporate didn’t straight reply the query. Nevertheless, Dixit famous that engagement with AI-generated content material in its experiments is “nearly as good as human voiceover manufacturing.” Notably, the corporate can be engaged on know-how to include a number of voices in a single audio output.
Each Pocket FM and Kuku FM don’t at present label their content material to point if AI has been used within the creation course of.
