No publisher is going to pay a professional to narrate their audiobooks when they can have AI do a shitty job for much less.

A shitty narrator can get me to hate a book I like. A great narrator can bring the characters to life, enhance the experience, and turn me from a listener to a fan. I’ve searched for books by narrators like Nick Podehl and Jeff Hayes and bought audiobooks I wouldn’t have otherwise.

I wouldn’t support it even if the author couldn’t afford it otherwise. There’s no test to confirm that and knowing profit margines, all publishers will use AI for all their books.

Yes, I’d want smaller authors to have people listen to their books, but without oversight, it’s going to ruin all audiobooks.