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As of today, we've added synthetic speech to StoryHunt Creator. We've done this so all our Creators can build and maintain tours much faster.
We've chosen to use ElevenLabs as our provider as it's the world's leading provider within artificially generated human-sounding speak. But is it really that good?
People can't hear the difference
Researchers at the University of Oslo conducted a study where 43 participants listened to both human and AI-generated voices expressing different emotions. Participants correctly identified human voices 56% of the time and AI voices 50.5% of the time, indicating significant difficulty in distinguishing between the two.
In other words: people can't hear the difference between synthetic speech and human speech.
This has broad implications. From accessibility tools to entertainment and global communications, Synthetic speech is shaping the way we interact with technology. And it's getting better for each day that passes.
Synthetic speech today
One of the greatest challenges for AI-generated speech is replicating emotions and making speech sound natural. As the first in the world, ElevenLabs has done so, creating synthetic speech that sounds like a human. That's my opinion – but you can be the judge yourself below ...
The above is generated using ElevenLabs via StoryHunt Creator in January 2025.
We use synthetic speech whenever we can
At StoryHunt, we rely on synthetic speech for all our audio productions wherever it's possible. Here’s why:
- Cost Efficiency: AI speech is significantly cheaper than hiring human voice actors. This allows us to allocate resources to other parts of our business, like improving the tours and expanding our offerings.
- Flexibility: AI makes it easy and affordable to make changes. If a landmark like Notre Dame were to burn down again, we could update scripts and re-record audio in multiple languages within a day. Considering the number of tours we have across the globe, this is essential.
- Unmatched Quality: The quality of AI-generated speech has reached a level where most listeners can’t tell the difference. This means we can deliver professional-grade audio experiences without compromise.
- Global Reach: Using AI allows us to produce content in multiple languages with consistent quality, helping us cater to diverse audiences worldwide. This way we can lower prices and make our tours available for so many more people.
Unfortunately, some languages are still not there yet. However, all the major languages such as English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese Mandarin, Hindi etc. are supported.
Get access to synthetic speech
As of today, you can generate human-sounding voices directly via StoryHunt Creator. As it's still in beta, let us know if you want access and we'll click some buttons for you.
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