How do you envision the future of AI-powered text-to-speech technology, and what potential applications and impacts can we expect to see in the coming years? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Matt Hocking, Co-founder of WellSaid Labs, on Quora:
AI voice is positioned to change so much of our lives in both personal and professional settings. It’s been a long road to get to human parity, but now that it’s possible we’re finally seeing the full capabilities of the technology. With these advancements in the industry, we’re also – unfortunately – seeing unethical and gimmicky applications of AI voice from other voice providers that allow examples like celebrity deep fakes and robocalls using the voices of well-known figures like Joe Biden, but that doesn’t take away from the positive and constructive applications. To that end, there are a few key areas worth highlighting that I think will see rapid transformation in the coming years, months – and even weeks.
Before we get into the future, let’s address the present – We are currently in a massive AI hype cycle – at the peak many would argue. Every day there are new consumer-facing AI tools that are both exciting and novel, but as with any hype cycle, in time the fervor will calm and only the companies driving real value will remain. The types of people who will get the most value out of AI voice are enterprise businesses. From improved customer experience through call centers, to automated video and audio content – companies will continue to see increased efficiencies, cost savings, and the ability to expand their reach to new audiences at scale with professional sounding AI voices. I’ve outlined some real use cases below.
There are a few key opportunities for businesses – Call centers with robotic voices that are difficult to communicate with are starting to sound more human with improved AI voice offerings – greatly improving customer satisfaction, engagement, and keeping people on these calls longer leads to upsell opportunities in some cases. AI is also starting to make it possible for businesses to expand their reach through the creation of localized content with various dialects, genders, and demographics. AI voice will help businesses connect with customers in real ways, turning pain points like customer service and advertising into strengths, improving the relationship between companies and their customers.
Another opportunity for companies – Within the enterprise and even SMBs, AI voice has already begun to transform employee training, onboarding, and enablement. Traditional pre-recorded training and onboarding videos that lack personalized interaction will be (and already are) replaced by AI-narrated content. It’s now possible to create dynamic interactivity for the employee which increases engagement and ultimately information retention – the whole goal and purpose of training content!
One of my favorites – in our personal lives, AI voice will also shift how we consume media, especially the news. Many people get their news via social media, or by headlines alone due to time constraints, but not anymore!. AI voice can turn every news article into an audible asset, consumable by podcast or playlist that consumers can create by curating their own content. I love this because it makes my morning commute an opportunity to hear the day’s most important news, without missing the details. The continued growth of the podcast industry has highlighted people’s appetite for audible content, and the news is at the precipice of leveraging AI voice to meet that demand.
I am certain that over time there will be new use cases that are great for AI voice that I haven’t listed here. I’m excited to see how human behavior changes as a result of new and innovative technology that is delightful to use.
This question originally appeared on Quora – the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
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