Website says "Professional narration," but then the demo plays AI-generated audio?
It is MVP, the website is the direction
Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
21–30 of 30 posts
Re: Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
#22Very nice but the fonts render as white on white background on my phone which makes it difficult to read. Screenshot: https://ibb.co/29CqpTx
I was thinking the same thing.
Then it occurred to me:
what if the designer - writer sought to draw my attention by making me hyperfocus on the text?
That is, musicians do it with dynamics, architects do it with compression and expansion, writers do it with words, but do designers do it with the most dynamic, infinitely extensible medium on the planet that combines all of our senses and perceptions at once?
Maybe that was the point here, even if it was unintentional, bordering on magic?
Re: Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
#23Very nice but the fonts render as white on white background on my phone which makes it difficult to read. Screenshot: https://ibb.co/29CqpTx
iPad is similarly broken.
Re: Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
#24Very nice but the fonts render as white on white background on my phone which makes it difficult to read. Screenshot: https://ibb.co/29CqpTx
I was thinking the same thing. Then it occurred to me: what if the designer - writer sought to draw my attention by making me hyperfocus on the text? That is, musicians do it with dynamics, architects do it with compression and expansion, writers do it with words, but do designers do it with the most dynamic, infinitely extensible medium on the planet that combines all of our senses and perceptions at once? Maybe tha…
Lol
Re: Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
#25The oral tradition is important because of the stories it passes on. The stories themselves are the thing. How do you square this with this feature you've added where LLMs can generate slop that has no resonance for anyone? It would seem to be at odds with the purpose of the tradition you're building your business around.
Good point, the part of the LLM is to allow a user to insert their own context into the stories. For example, an anansi story, could be adapted to use names of people if that will help the user (example parent) give context (to a child).
Has anyone said they actually want this? I wouldn't, especially for traditional folktales.
Re: Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
#26So i have, oh, just a couple thoughts:
I was intrigued by the headline, but interest dropped off quickly when I realized that the whole thing seems to be about LLM generated "stories".
Honestly, I would have loved to read some genuine african tales, but I really don't care about reading LLM slop, much less do I intend to pay for such a service.
Re: Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
#27The oral tradition is important because of the stories it passes on. The stories themselves are the thing. How do you square this with this feature you've added where LLMs can generate slop that has no resonance for anyone? It would seem to be at odds with the purpose of the tradition you're building your business around.
Good point, the part of the LLM is to allow a user to insert their own context into the stories. For example, an anansi story, could be adapted to use names of people if that will help the user (example parent) give context (to a child).
I don't see the point of doing that; the stories' power comes from myth/archetype. They're fables. Anansi is a trickster god; the characters he tricks tend to be other gods, spirits or archetypes. They're not normal people. They're already meant to teach, and connect with kids. It's been happening for centuries.
I see you identifying a need (African storytelling traditions should be preserved), which is great. But I would really recommend talking to experts in this field before monetizing features that dilute these cultures' canon.
We do not really mean, we do not really mean that what we are about to say is true. A story, a story; let it come, let it goRe: Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
#28...and you compensate writers how exactly? Be specific please. Cultural exploitation no matter the nationality or ethnicity or race, in my opinion, is a worthwhile debate. If you're compensating African Writers at a higher rate than the industry that's a selling point. If on the other hand you're hiding a model where you take advantage of African Writers under the guise of promoting their work and career while you pr…
These are folktales.
Re: Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
#29The Kikuyu fairy tale "The Warrior And The Irimũ" contains the line "I should like to teach you the dance of my people."
https://archive.org/stream/mananth13a14royauoft/mananth13a14... (1913)
Re: Show HN: AfriTales – Discover the Magic of African Storytelling
#30In early childhood someone gave me a storybook of African tales. Anansi, Legba, others I have long since forgotten. Every time I hear that the continent is not properly represented in film, and how some European tale needs to be Africanised I'm reminded of how lazy and risk averse Hollywood is. There are a hundred tales that could be told from the continent, genuinely novel and unlike anything you've read before.
Anecdotally, even the European tales told by Hollywood tend to be seen from an WASP point of view. What is the last time we saw or heard of a fairy tale from Spain or Albania?
But of course, you are right, this is orders of magnitude worse for Africa.