If you have been a regular around here, you probably know that I think some aspects of AI are stupendous and wonderful, all part of fulfilling the cultural mandate, and that other aspects of it are creepy and demented, and that a third category of AI is just lame. We are all still working out what we think. Early adopters need to exercise more caution, Luddites need to exercise less, and regular folks need to take their time in order to talk it all through.
So with that said, I want to test something out with you all. Here is a link to one of my books, as read by my doppelganger-machine-other. You should be able to download it and listen to it however you usually do.
Tell me what you think. Is this one of those creepy things? Wonderful things? Slow down a bit things? Would you rather listen to a Siri-type voice, so that you always know it is a machine? Or not?
Comments are open, and variegated opinions are welcome.
Wow, this sounds a LOT like you. Very impressive. The electronic nature of it hits with regard to rhythm and intonation, but the sound is right.
I think it’s a great idea. Sounds a lot like you (practically identical) and would make it easy to turn out all your books in audio. In my opinion it’s a go.
This is bonkers and I’m huge for it. Can’t believe Apple still doesn’t have a better voice at this point. I want an option on every one of your blog posts to have it read the text to me using this DWAI voice.
Your words…your voice. So far, no ruckus–or there shouldn’t be. The greatest benefit (for you, I would guess) is the timesaving feature. Seems quite cut and dry to me.
Yawn
I hate to say this, but I actually found this easier to follow than the audiobooks you have narrated in person. This (I believe) is because you tend to read fast when you are reading something that you yourself wrote.
I think you may have stumbled on to a valid use of AI.
I think it’s criminal…
This may be a minority view, but if anything, maybe speed it up. The machine character of it still retains some of that uncanny valley quality, but embracing that might be the way forward.
This technology can obviously save time on your end. In the interest of efficient information transfer, consider that increasing the listening speed to something closer to reading speed could save time on the our end as well.
I put this squarely in the factor of one of those “creepy things”, and I would avoid it. Do you know that feeling you get when someone gives you a fake smile? It might look a lot like a real smile—if you wrote a list of “facial cues that indicate a person is smiling,” the person is definitively giving a smile. But somehow, it just feels off. It doesn’t reach their eyes. It would be better not to smile at all than to attempt a fake one. That’s what this sort of thing reminds me of This one sounds a… Read more »
Super effective. I’d gladly listen to this and have no idea it was not your real voice unless someone told me.
It’s a little uncanny valley, but only just a little. Let me preface my comment by saying that for most of my life, I have been a neophile, shunning Ludditeism at every opportunity. Perhaps my age is starting to show, but I worry that with the confluence of AI and robotics, mankind will have very little to do. We won’t need actors because AI will generate better ones. We won’t need accountants for the same reason. We won’t need farm laborers, or factory workers, or car drivers, or, or, or, the list goes on and on. When I asked Grok… Read more »
You might as well use another voice. While it “sounds” like you, it really doesn’t sound like you. It sounds like AI.
Golly, why not have AI write for you as well? I gave SuperGrok the following prompt: “Please wright a short article in the exact writing style of Douglas Wilson. Refer to dougwils.com for content. The topic of the article should be on the delights and dangers of bananas. Article length, voice, grammatical style, vocabulary, and general wordsmithery should be modelled., Also make up a pity title as Douglas does.” And here were the results, lol. Wait for the end! —- The banana is a curious fruit—a simple gift that’s both a delight and a daredevil’s gamble. Crafted by the Almighty,… Read more »
😂
Now I’m craving a banana split. …You’re in the pay of the ice cream industry, aren’t you??
One of my favorite things about audiobooks read by the author is that (presumably) he reads it in exactly the way he intended it — tone, inflection, those subtleties of human expression that communicate a lot even though they’re little in themselves. I always think I’m getting something like bonus content in those nuances, because I assume they carry with them hints of the author’s meaning/interpretation/personality in a way that can’t be there when another reader reads the text. So while I don’t love the idea of an AI generated voice, I don’t hate it either, but I do feel… Read more »
Sounds so much like you I cannot tell the difference except for two particulars: you can catch the typos and correct in the midst of reading, but DougAI reads right through them. Secondly, DougAI doesn’t pause like you do. You give a significant pause to indicate change of voice or quotes, but DougAI rushes through all commas.
Mixed bag really. It’s ‘close enough’, but the range of voice pitch is limited. Your higher tones are missing. Every sentence or phrase ends on the same note and in a clipped fashion as if there was another 0.05 secs worth of speech that was omitted. This obviously comes from the fact that the machine doesn’t need to breathe. I usually listen to your books on 2x speed but even then, it is still noticeable (though less so). But, if this frees up your time to write more, than it’s a sacrifice that would be justified. A heads up in… Read more »
Sounds like your voice (10 out of 10), but the inflection and intimacy with the content is missing (sounds a bit mechanical). Also, your characteristic joy and occasional chuckle are likely missing – and this is my favorite part of the Blog & Mablog videos – when you crack up, reading your own post. 😂
As long as it’s listed as AI and not pretending to be you, it’s a decent enough read. I noticed a slight glitch at the very beginning. But I don’t know if it’s creepy when it’s bad, or creepy when it’s good.
Listened last night. I think this is practical and vastly better than Audible. The main thing is that there will be an explanation and adjustment period thing. Market such titles as: “Audio transcription with the authors persona” vs “Read by the author” or whatever. Those things which are personally read will become extra special, but it allows you to save time in practical places. A good example would be to persona-transcribe your entire collection of articles on DougWils.com going forward, for example. And your little mini-manifestos, such as the one presented to us is a good choice.
Sounds just like you but maybe not as inflective as your real voice but if I didn’t know it as AI I would of thought it was the real you.
That’s incredible! I approve. Better than listening to your books read by someone else, besides the fact that it frees up your time.
Wow! If you had not said this was AI I would not have known. The likeness is amazing. This is a huge productivity booster.
I’m surprised Apple hasn’t reached out to add you to the list of Siri voices. 😉
Looks like you taught ol’ whisky Pete everything you know, huh Doug? Zero principles, lazy, and stupid. You two really are peas in a pod.
https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/05/princeton-news-pete-hegseth-senior-thesis-plagiarism-allegations
Wow! That is pretty darn good. I don’t know if I could tell the difference! Voice technology has come a long way. Scary when I think about criminals using it, but amazing if you are wanting to save time on your audio books.
To call it lifeless is an insult to lifeless. Sure, it sounds like Doug Wilson but it’s not. It’s a simulacrum, and a bland one at that. So sure, if having an AI plagiarize your voice somehow makes what you say more astounding than it already is …
This whole concept profoundly and viscerally unnerves me. I do not like it at all, at all. Yielding our voices to AI seems like we’ve moved from taking dominion to abdicating it. I can’t articulate it precisely, but I think Christian thought needs to play some serious catchup before we jump into stuff like this. On a more practical note, it also seems like it could be a potential controversy-generator. Would the AI voice ‘know’ when to read wry hypotheticals wryly, and sarcastic things sarcastically? I can imagine plenty of clips taken out of context ‘proving’ an author really meant… Read more »
People on Youtube are making videos of AI generated voices of famous people like John MacArthur and pretending he says things he has never said. That is very insidious and misleading. Whoever the people are that do that need to get their channels deleted.
I think the Audio Book is a win and a go!
Now onto the real questions. Like how can we make Doug Wilson be the voice of Siri/ google assistant etc. ;) Now that is something I’d like to get behind
Does this mean Wade Stotts will be out of work now??
Seriously though, it’s a pass for me – – the longer I listen the less “alive” it felt; I could hear the machine coming through the voice. For me personally, read by the author is better than read by another reader, but any human is better than AI.
My 2 cents…
Quite disappointing. The timing and emphasis are wooden and semantically misleading, which is a large part of the skill of reading. The voice itself is good.
At least for me, this is deep into uncanny valley. No thanks. Some things just require a human touch.