I just listened to this AI generated audiobook and if it didn't say it was AI, I'd have thought it was human-made. It has different voices, dramatization, sound effects… The last I'd heard about this tech was a post saying Stephen Fry's voice was stolen and replicated by AI. But since then, nothing, even though it's clearly advanced incredibly fast. You'd expect more buzz for something that went from detectable as AI to indistinguishable from humans so quickly. How is it that no one is talking about AI generated audiobooks and their rapid improvement? This seems like a huge deal to me.
Totally true about the librivox readers. They are doing their best. :) There are some total gems in there. But I have definitely given up on a few of them. OTOH I have given up on professionally read audiobooks too for all sorts of reasons.
Absolutely, I love some of the librevox readers and have found new books I enjoyed immensely just from seeing what other things the ones I enjoyed had read, i found it a good way to find new books for a while because usually they are reading other books they personally enjoy that are similar to the one I had looked for initially.
Likewise just because they are "professionally read" doesn't make them good by default. Some peoples voices or accents just don't sit well with me trying to listen to them which is no fault of their own and personal preference on my part but some are just plain bad and I can't believe someone paid them for that work and found it acceptable enough to release it into the wider world :D