Audiobook Narrators being taken over by AI? Are authentic voices getting pushed out? Do voice actors feel threatened?
It is no secret that audiobook narrations are starting to be infiltrated by AI. With the growing demand for audiobook narrations, AI has been a tool used by authors to save money when getting published. However, this is damaging to the artistry of acting, especially audiobook storytellers.
What Do Narrators Say?
At DragonSteel Nexus 2025, I sat down at a panel for audiobook narrators after initially talking to Jeff Hays, Audiobook storyteller for Dungeon Crawler Carl. In the panel, there was Kaleo Griffith and Jennifer Jill Araya, storytellers for Isle of the Emberdark and Jeff Hays for Dungeon Crawler Carl.
In this panel, it was brought up that AI is always evolving and is making it harder to get into the voice acting role for audiobook narrations. This is because AI is cheaper to use instead of paying somebody to act. So who uses authentic voices vs AI. It was said that Indie authors are likely the ones hugging toward AI narration due to pricing. However, does that also mean their books are not selling as well? Are they trying to hit a mass market of audiobooks before fixing the initial problem.
AI is slowly pushing its way in, which means it’s our turn to push back.
A hot topic that was brought up by Jeff Hays is people who are interested in audiobook narrations are not taking it as seriously. It takes work to become a voice actor and it cannot be treated like a nine to five job. It takes real dedication to go out, take improv classes, developing voices and unique characteristics, not to mention your studio, equipment, etc. It is something you will likely have to throw yourself into because AI is more of a threat to new and aspiring voice actors.
Jeff mentioned he “would rather listen to boring AI than a bad audiobook narrator”. By this, he is enforcing the work it takes to become a voice actor and people who are interested need to take it seriously. To see more of what Jeff has to say, go to my interviews page and find my interview with him. He was kind enough to allow me to ask a few questions at his booth about how he feels about new storytellers walking into the industry. He had a lot to say and has his own way of changing the game for narration.
Jeff, Kaleo, and Jennifer all confirmed they do not feel threatened by AI voices because they are established and well known. Established audiobook voice actors are sought after by larger named books.
How can we combat AI as readers and listeners?
Jeff, Kaleo, and Jennifer agreed that most authors that are using AI for audiobook voices are likely indie authors because of affordability. They also said a big reason for the use of AI narration is because a book isn’t selling and they can’t afford a voice actor. They have made it very clear that AI cannot do what voice actors can do because of the emotional impact books have on their listeners.
It was encouraged to tell indie authors that we don’t want to support AI by listening to an AI narrator for their book. Express these concerns to authors. There are other ways than to use AI and an alternative may be for an author to do their own Audiobook narration if it’s very unaffordable. It is very important to support your indie authors, as well as their books, however support your audiobook voices by expressing your concerns with AI. Audiobooks need authentic voices.
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