He’s Been Dead for Nearly 10 Years. Now He’s Narrating Your Audiobook. - WSJ

mTags

Artificial intelligenceDeepfake

Addition date

May 6, 2023 9:04 AM

Column

Raphael Thys

Link

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-is-bringing-the-voice-of-the-dead-back-to-narrate-your-audiobook-7528cd96?mod=e2fb&fbclid=IwAR3fDMacZ01nYbU8I2m8h8XlxG9Nos5VewkVFTqypE8X1NTK4SmZ62UDyDk

Horizon and history date

2023

LAN

EN

Stephanie Aaronson/The Wall Street Journal; Photos: iStock

Edward Herrmann, a prolific actor who narrated dozens of audiobooks, has been dead for almost a decade. But that hasn’t prevented him from being the voice of several recent audiobooks.

Mr. Herrmann’s latest work is generated by DeepZen Ltd., a London-based artificial-intelligence startup that was given access to the actor’s past recordings with his family’s permission. From that trove, DeepZen said it is able to generate any sound and intonation that Mr. Herrmann would have used if he were narrating these new books himself.