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The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

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Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#151

Post by WalterBright »

cxr wrote: post #110
jzb wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I forget the exact quote but the thing I've seen making the rounds sums it up pretty well: Computers were supposed to do the work so people could make art and write poetry. Now the computers are making art and writing poetry and I still have to have a job. In another life I'd love to do voice over work. (I even have a face for radio!) But, instead, technology is being used to avoid even having humans do that type of…

As software developers, we know what getting workers to have better lives while working less looks like. There's some sleight of hand at play, though, in the employer/employee relationship (favoring the employer). > Every advance in AI is "how can we replace people and save money?" and not "how can people have better lives and work less?" It's not just AI, but technology generally. And it's because when it comes to m…

Wealth in a free market is not concentrated, it is created. It does not "flow", either, as free trades are an exchange of value, not a flow of value.

Wealth disparity comes from people creating different amounts of value.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#152

Post by WalterBright »

brigandish wrote: post #145
mvdtnz wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the thing that has surprised everyone in this revolution is that the opposite has happened. Musk wasted billions trying to automate vehicle manufacturing while AI is threatening to take the jobs of novelists and graphic designers.

On the other hand, I am reminded of a quote by Christopher Hitchens (from memory), “They say that everyone has a book in them. For most of them, it would be better if it stayed there". Some of the films and TV programmes I've watched recently have made me wonder, as I gaze across at the writers on strike who have some legitimate concerns but who have also provided some bloody awful writing, if I wouldn't prefer AI to…

90% of books and movies are not worth the time to read or watch.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#153

Post by WalterBright »

cxr wrote: post #110
jzb wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I forget the exact quote but the thing I've seen making the rounds sums it up pretty well: Computers were supposed to do the work so people could make art and write poetry. Now the computers are making art and writing poetry and I still have to have a job. In another life I'd love to do voice over work. (I even have a face for radio!) But, instead, technology is being used to avoid even having humans do that type of…

As software developers, we know what getting workers to have better lives while working less looks like. There's some sleight of hand at play, though, in the employer/employee relationship (favoring the employer). > Every advance in AI is "how can we replace people and save money?" and not "how can people have better lives and work less?" It's not just AI, but technology generally. And it's because when it comes to m…

> favoring the employer

If you've ever been an employer, you'd be disabused of that quickly.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#154

Post by WalterBright »

jzb wrote: post #91
ecshafer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like Louis CK said: "Everything is amazing and no one is happy." Everything is not amazing. Sure things are amazing from a technical perspective. But most tech advancements I think have been harmful to society in the last 30 years or so. Its awesome that computers are so powerful and we have awesome video and photos and can share things so easily. But technology should better lives, and not cheapen it, which it oft…

I forget the exact quote but the thing I've seen making the rounds sums it up pretty well: Computers were supposed to do the work so people could make art and write poetry. Now the computers are making art and writing poetry and I still have to have a job. In another life I'd love to do voice over work. (I even have a face for radio!) But, instead, technology is being used to avoid even having humans do that type of…

> I'd love to do voice over work

Voice over work and screen actors put stage actors and burlesque workers and traveling minstrels out of business.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#155

Post by MrVandemar »

brigandish wrote: post #145
mvdtnz wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the thing that has surprised everyone in this revolution is that the opposite has happened. Musk wasted billions trying to automate vehicle manufacturing while AI is threatening to take the jobs of novelists and graphic designers.

On the other hand, I am reminded of a quote by Christopher Hitchens (from memory), “They say that everyone has a book in them. For most of them, it would be better if it stayed there". Some of the films and TV programmes I've watched recently have made me wonder, as I gaze across at the writers on strike who have some legitimate concerns but who have also provided some bloody awful writing, if I wouldn't prefer AI to…

> I gaze across at the writers on strike who have some legitimate concerns but who have also provided some bloody awful writing

Too often the writing of film and TV is dictated by the producers/studio -- people who have an interest in financial returns, not quality. Those writers would probably love to write their own show, their way, unhindered, and would probably produce something watchable.

Of course, writers subvert their instructions sometimes to great effect. On BSG I believe they were told their show was "too dark" and someone insisted someone have "a birthday party". Which they duly put in, and then had them all die in some kind of terror/bomb incident.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#156

Post by taskforcegemini »

jcon321 wrote: post #55

This is cool. Narration of audio books is a time consuming process! I agree with some of these comments here about how AI narration can sound robotic though and may not be too pleasant to listen to. However, for anyone who is, or knows a family member/friend with a certified disability, or is a veteran, there is a free program to listen to a vast collection of audio books (with real narration) provided by the US Gove…

>I agree with some of these comments here about how AI narration can sound robotic though and may not be too pleasant to listen to.

I have encountered readers on librivox with such terrible pronunciation that following the story was rather difficult. on the other hand, a robotic voice could work well on some cyberpunk material

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#157

Post by lynx23 »

xrd wrote: post #20

When I read Rikki Tikki Tavi to my 8 yr old daughter, we play a game. She asks me to change one of the words in the page and she tries to listen and see if she can figure it out. It is mentally taxing at the end of a long day to do that on the fly without pausing to figure out the word to slip in. And, my daughter is very sharp and catches them. I listened to a few of these. The voice sounds muted at times, as if the…

Now you have a pretty good idea how blind people must feel. Yes, a good audiobook should be read by a human. But if you dont have that, speech synthesis is the best or even only thing you can get. And then, many years later, you read a post like yours. And you realize that man is spoiled.

Signed, a blind man

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#158

Post by therealdrag0 »

prepend wrote: post #25
xrd wrote: post #20

When I read Rikki Tikki Tavi to my 8 yr old daughter, we play a game. She asks me to change one of the words in the page and she tries to listen and see if she can figure it out. It is mentally taxing at the end of a long day to do that on the fly without pausing to figure out the word to slip in. And, my daughter is very sharp and catches them. I listened to a few of these. The voice sounds muted at times, as if the…

> But, we should ask if you would want to hang out with the voice actor at a party. I think the question is really “Will I be able to enjoy great books I otherwise would not have experienced?” For me, it’s not that these are superior or equivalent books to parents reading to their kid or voice actors; it’s whether I’ll listen to a book for free that I wouldn’t be able to afford $10-30.

Plus lots of books don’t have audiobooks. I’ve a few sitting on my to read list for years on end just cuz there’s no audio. Being able to make one myself with AI would be awesome.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#159

Post by janekm »

satvikpendem wrote: post #142
janekm wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elevenlabs is a lot closer to compelling audiobook narration (needs a better way to deal with multiple characters in a story without manual use of multiple voices): https://pub-a24da573c61f4b2d905bdebb2d0ecf88.r2.dev/ElevenLa... (an H.G.Wells example I just asked it to read).

Any open source alternatives?

None of the open source models I've seen are as "well-rounded", production ready as Eleven Labs. Though for example bark is really great at prosody: https://suno-ai.notion.site/Bark-Examples-5edae8b02a604b54a4... And piper isn't bad at speech quality: https://rhasspy.github.io/piper-samples/

We might only be a few papers away from a good open source Elevenlabs competitor.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#160

Post by timmb »

WalterBright wrote: post #151
cxr wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As software developers, we know what getting workers to have better lives while working less looks like. There's some sleight of hand at play, though, in the employer/employee relationship (favoring the employer). > Every advance in AI is "how can we replace people and save money?" and not "how can people have better lives and work less?" It's not just AI, but technology generally. And it's because when it comes to m…

Wealth in a free market is not concentrated, it is created. It does not "flow", either, as free trades are an exchange of value, not a flow of value. Wealth disparity comes from people creating different amounts of value.

I think it’s more complex than that. Wealth is often created by monopolising things (e.g. enclosures) instead of by creating them.
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