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, informed TechCrunch 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 device out there to all creators over the subsequent few weeks.
Within the take a look at part, 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 in the course of the experimental part, the AI-powered instruments helped it minimize the price of producing audio by 90%.
Pocket FM’s co-founder and CTO Prateek Dixit informed TechCrunch over a name that with this partnership, the corporate needs to make it simpler for writers to transform their writings into audio collection.
“We’ve 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 tools, writers can produce roughly half-hour of high-quality audio content material per day. With the AI instruments, this output may be 10 occasions extra,” he added.
Pocket FM has constructed a device 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 device 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 based mostly on knowledge from customers’ engagement with this type of content material, the platform additionally plans to counsel voices that work effectively for writers in a specific style.
Pocket FM isn’t 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 totally different levels of creation, together with refining script, producing thumbnails, including sound results and changing textual content into audio.
Kuku FM informed TechCrunch that it’s also experimenting with utilizing visible era instruments resembling Midjourney and Runway to create advertisements associated to content material.
High quality of content material and influence 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 heart of our decision-making in relation to audio content material manufacturing. We’ve 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 may result in faster outcomes and a much bigger content material library for these platforms, however it’s going to additionally scale back the roles of voiceover artists working with them. India’s Affiliation of Voiceover Artists (AVA) has expressed its considerations 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 normal secretary, told Indian publication Scroll.
Sodi additionally informed Scroll about incidents the place voiceover artists had been referred to as into the studio to file samples to coach AI with out acquiring their consent or informing them.
“On an emotional degree, it scares me. Through the use of AI, you might be primarily diluting the human expertise of storytelling. You lose out on an emotional connection,” Delhi-based voiceover artist Aditya Mattoo informed TechCrunch.
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 dangerous content material.
Voice artists in other parts of the world have additionally raised considerations 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.
After we requested in regards to the influence of AI-powered voice era on Pocket FM, the corporate didn’t instantly reply the query. Nevertheless, Dixit famous that engagement with AI-generated content material in its experiments is “pretty much as good as human voiceover manufacturing.” Notably, the corporate can also be engaged on expertise 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.