High quality voiceover and audio descriptions will use human voices to convey the message: to make an emotional connection, add personality, passion and/or humour for the audience to enjoy. The problem is that human voice actors and voice over services can be costly and it can take time and effort to get the performance right.
For that reason, some companies are choosing to use AI voices for their voice projects instead of real voice actors. This can lower the overall price and time required to complete the project, but at what cost to quality?
If you have an upcoming project that requires a voiceover, it is worth weighing up the pros and cons of both AI and real voices, so you know which is best for your project.
Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of AI voices and human voices:
AI Voices
Pros:
Quicker turnaround time
Even with a professional voiceover service it can take a while to get the voiceover for your project completed. This is normal, but it can’t compete with the speed of an AI voice. With AI speech there is no script practise, voice recording or editing to be done. It is especially speedy if an audio transcript file already exists for your project.
Cheaper
Because there is no need for a human voice actor and studio quality recording equipment, AI voice overs are generally cheaper.
Adjustment ability control
With synthesised speech there is often additional software available from the AI voiceover company. This kind of software gives you easy control over editing and changing content yourself, rather than having to request updates from the voice over agency.
Cons:
No regional adjustments
You are unlikely to be able to have specific regional accents with AI voice overs. They may offer English spoken in the main accents such as English itself, Welsh, Scottish, Australian, American etc. However, we’ve spoken before about the advantages of regional accents and dialects in conveying certain advertising messages so AI voices can limit the appeal of a voice over or fail to convey the intended message.
No substitutions
A professional voice actor will be able to replace certain words with words that sound better, or that fit the timing of the text better. You can’t get that on-the-spot flexibility with an AI voiceover, as it simply converts the text on the computer into sound.
It doesn’t really sound like a person
Despite the technology being much more advanced than it was, the fact is that AI voices still don’t sound quite like human voices. That’s a pretty major disadvantage when people still very much prefer a human voice when it comes to communication.
“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.” – Maya Angelou
Human Voices:
Pros:
Emotion & Personality
With a human voice you get the distinct emotion and personality only possible through the voice of a real person. This is invaluable when it comes to conveying your message in marketing, advertising, training or other corporate video.
A unique voice that is just right
With a voice over service you have a huge range of vocal talent to choose from so you can find a voice that is just right for your project. That indefinable quality that comes from individual human voices in a range of accents. This gives you much more flexibility when it comes to the tone, age, personality and character of the voice in your content.
Greater ability to convey a message
As humans we only really take in so much from an AI voice before we are distracted by the fact it isn’t a real person and switch off. For a strong message that is well-received and understood by your audience, human voices can speak to an audience on a different level to AI vocals.
Cons:
Higher cost
Inevitably it does cost more to have a human voice over on your project. However, for the benefits and quality of an excellent voiceover by a professional voice artist, that investment will pay off. The costs are also more competitive than you might think – check our rates here for a comparison.
Longer production time
It can take longer to record a human voiceover, but that is often only because of the vast amount of input you can have. You have time to browse different voices, choose different accents, get sharp, professional vocals recorded, then tweaked and adjusted depending on your needs. Yes, extra time is spent but only to deliver a high-spec result.
Extra equipment
If you are planning on recording the voiceover yourself then you do have to consider the extra cost of equipment. Even equipment hire for recording can be costly, add to that the sound engineer costs and other technical needs, and it can be expensive. Usually, it is cheaper to utilise a professional voice over service who will include recording and editing in the overall price.
There are pros and cons to both AI voices and human voices. The fact remains, that AI voices do not currently sound like human voices (yet), and they don’t resonate with people in the same way other real human voices do. For the most effective voiceover for your project, speak to us today to find out how we can boost your content with a professional human voice over.
