I’ve drafted this post too many times. It’s very straightforward: There is no place for AI in creating art.
I received an email from the South American River ™ this morning informing me (and they seemed proud of the fact) that I had been “…invited to participate in KDP’s beta for audiobooks.” ALL of my books were eligible.
I took one of them through the steps to the point where I could “edit” the audio. First, the voices had no Australian option. Strike one. Second, it pronounced some slang incorrectly. Strike two (though you could alter pronunciation with a very clunky interface). Finally, IT WAS A VIRTUAL PERSON. Strike three.
Shouldn’t have even stepped up to the plate.
I have been aching to release my books as audiobooks. There’s a huge market for them. It’s been impossible to do it in an even remotely financially viable way from Australia, so, on the face of it, this seems like a good alternative.
Except it’s not worth it.
There was a fourth strike, and apologies in advance for the language. (Well, warning in advance. Not apologies.)
In the first chapter, bad guy says other character he had kidnapped to “get in the fucking tub”. (Don’t worry. Bad guy gets apprehended a paragraph later.)
The virtual voice “said” with an inflection that sounded like “get in the tub we use for fornication” as opposed to the way all of us humans would say it. And that wasn’t something I could edit/correct.
AI, as a tool, has some business benefits. It can point someone in the general direction of knowledge. For example, if I need to know what legislative criteria I’d have to follow if I were a telecommunications company, it can provide a list. Though I’d highly recommend you verify it.
When it comes to creating art, it’s A) cheating, B) stealing other people’s work to derive an output and C) pretty poor quality. ‘C’ will slowly go away, and the quality will improve.
A and B are reasons why you still shouldn’t use it.
I will NEVER use AI to write a book, or accept cover art that is AI-created. Solemn word.