Over the past few years, AI has begun insinuating itself into the world of voiceover and as we expected, it’s beginning to give us competition in certain areas.

But it’s also beginning to give us opportunities in others.  And that could be good news for some.

So, I thought it might help if you knew where the competition is and, conversely, what the opportunities are looking like.

 

What voiceover work is being affected by AI?

Information, or instructional voiceover delivery was the first area to be affected by AI use, and that looks set to continue.

For instance, you may have noticed that the ‘voice prompt’ component of most Banks, Insurance and Energy Companies is being delivered by AI.  Usually, you can recognise it by a ‘flat’ tone of voice, devoid of emotion or personality.

Okay, you could say, ‘Well, it’s just information’.  And that’s true.

Because information or instruction doesn’t usually:

• require the nuancing of ‘voice acting’,
• need any particular level of emotion, or
• the subtle meanings and attitudes we humans apply to language.

However, voiceover artists used to do all that work.

I’ve done plenty of it in my long career.  And it appears to be largely gone.

Other areas affected are VO jobs coming from smaller companies or ‘start-ups’ who have a modest budget for their digital messaging, such as an ‘Explainer Video’ for their website, or a short, ‘Training or ‘how-to video’ for staff or customers.

These low budget areas have traditionally been sought after for those wanting to gain experience and learn how to grow a successful VO business

 

How is AI impacting someone new to VO?

If you are just starting out, you’ll have made a voice demo or recorded some samples, created a profile for yourself on an individual website, or one of the online platforms out there and begun auditioning.

I know many who see this as a way into voiceover as a career.  And for many it’s been successful!

You audition and win the job. You receive a script, work out how to approach it, asking any questions before recording.   Then either working alone in your home studio or with the client calling in you do the job.  Tick

Then along comes ‘Text to Speech’ (TTS).  It’s sometimes even cheaper than the lowest budget offered for a human, and I’m sure TTS will have pulled the rug out from under some of the work that would have been available to you.

The truth is, AI will get better at everything; and perfecting the sound of the human voice will be one of them.

Now, I know that all sounds like a heap of bad news for voiceover.  But there are some plusses.

 

How About Some Good News!

There’s anecdotal evidence which suggests that handing over a job to a TTS service can have its downsides.

It may well appeal to a company ‘initially’ because it’s cheaper and appears so simple.  Send us the text and we’ll fling you back the finished job.

But then their job is delivered…and it feels wrong.

Nice voice, sure.  But the read is clunky, lacking in warmth, personality, charm, or just sounds…well…like an AI.

In the past few years myself and others have been approached occasionally to voice a job for a client who’s used a TTS service and wasn’t happy with the result.

You see, with AI:

• the client or producer can’t direct the AI the same as they can a human voice artist
• the client can’t ask the AI for changes in pace, energy, volume or attitude
• the AI can’t create a unique character voice to suit an image, and
• the AI can’t nuance meaning, or add genuine humour or emotion.

Why?

Because AI voices are trained in the past

And their training is fixed.  They can’t learn or discover something new in the moment.

Voice Artists and Voice Actors record in the moment, for the future 

Some of those clients quickly discovered that it was ‘false economy’.

And because they love their idea, their brand, or product and want to meaningfully engage with an audience, they quickly began searching for a human voice artist who knows what they’re doing, can take direction, and contribute something unique and spontaneous to the creative process.

Someone who could add a human voice, with human elements.

 

Making sure Human Voices get the edge every time.

There’s no doubt that AI is here, in so many areas of our lives.  Some AI applications are absolutely amazing.  Some will mean drastic and irreversible changes in our social and work-lives.

And in voiceover, all players in that industry have been working hard, and thinking hard, to create strategies that make sure that our ‘Intellectual Property’ (IP) and therefore our incomes are protected.

And more especially, that if anyone wants to use our voice, it’s not ‘stolen’.  But with our permission and individual agreements, it’s licensed.

There can be pitfalls, but there are also opportunities.

Already, there are cases where a voice artist has been approached by an advertiser or a client and offered fees, some quite substantial, to give permission for their voice to be used, under licence, for agreed use, for an agreed period of time.

Much of the work to create agreements and protect our IP is underway.  Lobbying has been done by two organisations on our behalf.  I encourage you to join if they are a fit for you.

They are Australian Association of Voice Actors (AAVA) and MEAA Equity the organisation representing all working performers.

Government is slow to react.  Any government.  Because these things take time.

There are so many considerations that need to be understood about the landscape and the players, before legislation and protections are in place.

Remember, knowledge is power.  And you need support and information early in your career.

The better that goes, the better you’ll go.

 

What Can you do to Secure your Place in the Voice Over World

Begin by sounding like a human.

‘I do sound like a human’, you may have said.

But it’s never easy to make someone else’s the words ‘on the page’ sound natural. ‘off the page’.  There’s a big difference between you in conversation with a friend, and what you make of a script with language that feels a little unnatural to read, or is about something you don’t quite understand, or needs you to use your voice in a completely different way.

That’s when you need superb voiceover technique knowledge.

Whenever you hear a voiceover performance that resonates with you, and sounds like they just made it up, what you’re hearing is ‘voiceover technique’.

And there’s no doubt that as AI continues its march into the VO Industry, you need to be very clear about this…

Your reads need to sound as though each word, phrase, sentence or paragraph has just tumbled out of your head, spontaneously.

Just as we humans do with every spoken-word engagement (conversation) in our lives.

Whether it’s a read that’s chock-full of information, meaning and emotion, or a characterful read with heaps of attitude and personality, it needs to capture the attention of the listening audience and engage them.

Any voiceover artist, or narrator, does so much different work.

Whether it’s for a 15 second radio commercial, an 8 page medical read, an animation or game, or a 100,000 word audiobook, each script or text needs you to find pace, tone, energy and attitude that solidifies meaning and truly engages your listener.

You may have also thought, ‘Well it’s just reading words.  How hard can it be?’

But it’s never just ‘reading’ words.  It’s owning them!

So, how do you become really good at that?  How do you perfect it?

You may already know the answer.  You build your technique knowledge.

But how?

You could:

• begin by googling VoiceOver Agents wherever you live, and
• listen to voice demos of artists who sound like you
• analyse the type or style of work they’re cast for
• listen to them as an audience would, then
• study them as a student would, and
• get some technique coaching

VoiceOver is never just about reading words.

It’s also not just about having a remarkable, or beautiful voice.

To work successfully in voiceover, in the age of AI, you need to understand elements of the human voice and how to apply them to a variety of script styles.

You need to understand what you’re saying and to whom.

You need to know how to make adjustments in pace, energy and volume.

Once you have that knowledge, you can then add your own flesh to the bones of any script.

And if you need my help with that, and you’re in Melbourne, have a look at this link to see if a one-day Saturday live ‘technique course’ can help you make the difference in your work.

I hope this has helped.

Happy voiceovering!