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Is AI voiceover going to replace live actors? That’s a question that’s consistently popped up over the last several years and a good question to explore in the second part of this blog series. Part one of the series looked at a voiceover talent’s transition into the digital era.

In part two, we’re diving into artificial intelligence (AI), its impact on the industry, and the idea of synthetic voices replacing real actors. While we can never really know what the future may bring, I am inclined to say no, AI will not replace real-life voice over actors.

There are several reasons I feel this way:

• AI-generated narration can instantly kill all the drama and excitement when used for a full-length documentary-type TV show (as evidenced by one we ran across a few weeks back).
• Certain AI-powered robot vacuums have voices that are annoying enough for people to return the product based on the voice alone.
• No client has ever told me, “We’re going to hire AI to do your job.” And if they did, I have enough work and clients coming in to wish them luck and move on.

And those are just a few reasons off the top of my head. I’ll go a bit deeper later in this article, right after we flesh out what’s going on with AI in the world of voice over.

AI and Technology in Voice Over

Voice technology has gotten more sophisticated, something I’ve touched on in past blogs. Examples include:

Synthetic Voices

Artificially produced replications of the human voice, such as simple commands on automated messages.

Text-to-Speech (TTS)

Text-to-speech transforms digital text into human speech. Google’s text-to-speech is a prime example.

AI Voices

Type of synthetic voice that uses deep learning to:

• Transform text into human-sounding speech
• Transform speech into text
• Identify a person by their voice command

Voice Assistants

Voice assistant software can perform tasks or answer questions in response to a person’s voice. Think Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri.

Synthetic, On-Demand Voice Overs

Today you can find software that produces text-to-speech (TTS) voice overs as needed. The TTS are often synthetic voices generated by AI and other technology to help them sound less robotic and more human.

If you’d rather start off with a real voice, other technologies let you create a voice bank of a real person’s voice that can later be used to create synthetic speech. Here the voices originally come from human actors, but the sounds are broken down and then put together to produce the desired order needed for the project.

On the surface, it may appear that technology is rapidly honing in on the voice over industry, ready to replace real-life actors. And for some uses, perhaps it has. But that doesn’t mean game over.

The downside of Artificial Voices

True, starting costs for using synthetic voices might be lower than hiring a professional voice over actor. You may also get a rapid-fast turnaround time and the ability to endlessly manipulate the recording as desired. But the pros have yet to outweigh the cons.

The cons of using synthetic voices include the following:

• No unique sound. You may be purchasing a synthetic voice that’s used by dozens, or even hundreds or thousands, of other companies. The voice may be mundane and overused, but it also runs the risk of sounding monotonous.
• Limited library. While you may find plenty of voices speaking standard, non-accented English, you’ll likely be at a loss if you need regional accents or a less common language.
• Endless manipulation. The ability to manipulate the recording to add pauses and other elements may be a plus. But you may also find yourself manipulating the recording to fix errors with acronyms, abbreviations, ambiguities, missed cues, bad flow and other issues that make the recording less than stellar.
• Lack of humanness. The lack of humanness is the greatest downside. The human brain can pick up the difference no matter how advanced artificially reproduced voices may be.

Why the Human Touch (and Sound) Matters

Even though they try to make a variety of different-sounding AI voices, there is no way to direct to the nuance that some clients desire.
When you take the humanness out of voices, you take away what connects us to our audience: human emotion.

Marketing relies heavily on human emotion, as up to 90% of our decisions are based on emotion. Emotional branding has become one of the foremost ways many brands attempt to connect with their audience.

Real voice actors are still the only way to provide the emotional connection that synthetic voices have yet to master. Hiring a seasoned voice actor also brings on added benefits, such as getting guidance on the script, receiving input based on their expertise, an opportunity to provide vocal direction and feedback on the delivery of the copy, and connecting with a real person to develop a professional relationship.

End of the Digital Era?

Voice technology has gotten better – but it’s still not to the point where it can substitute for a real person with real emotions. And even though advances may continue to be made, experts like author Greg Satell say we’re looking at the end of the digital era. That doesn’t mean we’ll stop using digital technology. But it does mean we won’t necessarily see the same massive explosion of new technologies that we’ve seen of late.

“We’ve spent the last few decades learning how to move fast,” Satell notes. “Over the next few decades, we’ll have to relearn how to go slow again.” Slower and more in-depth, using all this technology for meaningful projects beyond automating Robocalls or shutting off porch lights with a voice command. “We are awash in nifty gadgets,” Satell writes, “but in many ways, we are no better off than we were 30 years ago.”

Voice Over: Greatest Challenges, Greatest Joys

This brings me to one final thing I noticed while thinking and writing about the changes in the voice over industry. It can be summed up with a quote from French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (written in 1849):

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

No matter what has changed in the voice over in the way of technology and work methods, two fundamental elements remain the same. One is the greatest challenge and the other is the greatest joy.

• The greatest challenge is still finding and securing work. Finding people who are doing the hiring and getting in front of them. You now get in front of them with an email instead of an in-person connection, but you still need a way to stand out from the crowd.
• The greatest joy will always be connecting with clients and delivering exactly what they want.

Another thing that has stayed the same is my suggestions to new talent looking to break into the industry. The most important thing is a good, clean sound – and the willingness to work hard for what you want.

Just because technology has made some things faster and easier doesn’t mean technology does everything for you. People still have to put in the legwork if they want to succeed – in anything.

I feel lucky to have entered the voice over world when I did, as it’s given me a chance to embrace a wide range of different experiences. While I miss the in-person work with other actors (even though we have ways to live-connect digitally with each other now via Source Connect, Zoom, and other methods), I also love the ability to be around my family working from home. Not to mention living anywhere I want and still getting steady work.

I’d also say it’s easier for me to find work today than when I started. I have a lot of fingers in a lot of different pools. I have a variety of auditions coming to me from many sources. And clients can find me by searching for female voice talent (or something related) online. SEO is wonderful, and optimizing one’s website is essential these days.

And I have a large stable of clients I built up over the years that I stay in touch with. Once again, the human connection comes into play. Like any meaningful career, it’s not only about the work you do but the relationships you develop. Relationships you can’t get from technology, no matter how fast, cheap or accessible it may be.

Thank you for reading this post! Let me know when you need a custom audition or voice over quote for an upcoming project.

Will things get better or worse in the digital age? That’s a question people consistently ask about everything from the economy to the voice over industry to a change in their favorite restaurant’s menu. While we could sit around discussing the question for hours, or even days, I recall a concise answer that summed it up best:

“Things don’t get better or worse. They get different.”

And that’s precisely what happened in the world of voice over. While some may pine for what might be considered the Golden Age of voice over, others say a new Golden Age may be upon us.

Either way, I have used a few key strategies over the years to sustain my own voice over career through whatever comes across my path. For others facing significant changes in their careers or those embarking on the VO bandwagon, these strategies may help you, too.

The Early Days of Voice Over

While the definition of voice over’s Golden Age may vary, I feel it’s an era reserved for some true veteran voice actors. I don’t consider myself part of the Golden Age, although I have been in the business for more than 25 years.

When I entered the scene in the 1990s, in-person studio recordings were the norm. If you wanted any level of notable voice over work, you needed to live in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Southern California, where the big studios and the big jobs were.

An average day in the voice over world for me included spending a lot of time attending live auditions, doing in-studio work – and being stuck in Southern California traffic.

Commercials made up the bulk of my work, primarily local commercials for businesses in the area. Yes, the work was exciting. And yes, I had a lot of fun.

I remember working at a studio in Irvine, California, with another OC native, Scott Rummell. He’s one of the top people in the voice over world, with a body of work that includes movie trailers, network promos, and national and regional TV commercials. He gave me a valuable leg up at the beginning of my career. We recorded spots together, acting as husband and wife for local supermarkets or copier companies.

My background was in acting, so I was used to working with other actors and creating believable dialogue. That was always the most fun… getting to work with other actors in a live situation.

A Voice Over Career in the 1990s

• Live auditions
• In-person studio recordings
• Often recording with other actors in the studio together
• Getting work through casting and talent agents
• Voice over actor’s job was to read and interpret the copy
• Engineers and production crew took care of the recording, editing, sound quality, and everything else that went into the finished, delivered product
• In-person marketing – where personality played a huge role
• Printed headshots
• Demos on cassette tapes and then CDs were always cheaper if you bought them in bulk. I still have a box of CDs left over from 20 years ago!

The early days were exciting. I was getting paid to be an actor – and that was my goal. Some people never get near that. Sure, I had some side jobs at the beginning, like working as a florist and marketing a murder mystery dinner theater, but I was driven to make acting my full-time career.

At one point, one of my side jobs ended. I saw it as a turning point. I knew I could draw unemployment for about six months and use the time to get all the pieces together to focus on what I wanted to do.

From there, I just took one step after the other. The work got better. I made more money. Time is on your side. It will get a little easier if you can stick out the tough stuff in the beginning.

And although I do miss certain aspects of the early days, I know things tend to appear rosier in hindsight.

• What I miss most: Working in person with other actors.
• What I miss least: Being stuck in the Southern California traffic. I can get much more work when I’m not wasting time on the freeway.

The Digital Age of Voice Over

When the digital age began to unfold, my initial reaction was less than thrilled. It was more like: “Oh my gosh. What the heck is this technology, and how will I work with it?” And I might not have if I had not met my husband.

I was not a computer person AT ALL, and he was the one who nudged me into the computer and internet age. The transition has been challenging to me, but I’ve been able to learn what I need to know – and usually hire people to help with the rest.

Some people are more adept than I am with technology, but that doesn’t mean I’m not proud of the progress I’ve made. I still sometimes go through everything I’ve learned and pat myself on the back. Technology is wired into younglings these days, so it’s mostly a breeze for them. They have other challenges.

Technology aside, the biggest challenge in the digital age has been connecting with potential clients, the people who will hire you. The current mantra is that anybody and everybody can be a voice over talent – which also comes with a downside.

Now you’re not just competing with the people in L.A. you see in the audition waiting room. You’re competing with people in every state… in every country. You’re competing with the world.

Voice Over Experience Matters  

Seasoned voice actors have the advantage of experience and the ability to say no to jobs that are not a good fit. Examples are clients who may not have directed a lot of voice over recordings and put you through the mill, asking for multiple free auditions or even recordings. Sorry, no.

Seasoned actors can end up at a disadvantage in certain cases. Sometimes, a client may be looking for an unrefined voice, very raw and not polished. When you’ve been doing voice acting for so long, it’s hard to turn off the polish.

A Voice Over Career in the 2020s

• Digital auditions
• Digital studio recordings
• Usually alone in a home studio
• Getting work through voice over marketplaces, casting agencies, talent agencies, pay-to-play platforms
• Voice over actor’s job is everything related to the craft: recording, editing, marketing, maintaining a website, the whole kit, and caboodle
• Online marketing, where voice over websites and other savvy digital assets play a huge role
• On-demand digital samples of work
• Digital demos

After all these years, voice over work still brings me joy. My biggest joy is pleasing a client… when you get to hear something like, “Gee, that was fantastic. It’s great working with you.”

I recently experienced one of those sessions where we whizzed through a series of difficult recordings for a major university fundraiser. In many cases, they were satisfied with the first take. It’s so freeing to work with someone who has such confidence in my abilities and can just let me go and do my thing.

I used to be thrilled to hear my voice on TV or on the radio. My voice would come on while my kids were watching TV, and they’d say, “There’s mom!”

Now I do a smattering of commercials, and most of my work is long-form narration. E-learning and similar projects, along with some phone prompt work. I got into voice over narration very quickly, which perfectly aligns with the demands in the digital age.

And yes, my work is still fun. It’s like a game for me. Every morning I wake up and see what’s in my email inbox. I’m scouting possible jobs not just for me but also for my college-age daughter, who also does voice over work. I meet with her over Zoom once a day to do whatever auditions and client work she has in between her other work and classes. It’s a sneaky way for me to be in constant touch with her while she’s away at college…and she still makes a nice purse from her work too, which helps to pay for it all.

I have a set routine and a speed. It energizes me to think, “There’s another audition, another opportunity.” You never know which one is going to hit a client. When you do get the job offer, it’s a big win. Fortunately, I put enough spaghetti on the wall so some of it does stick!

• What I enjoy most is: Ease and speed of my daily routine.
• What I enjoy least: Dealing with finicky technology. Nearly all of my career’s most memorable scary moments involve technology failing at extremely inopportune times.

How to Keep a Voice Over Career Going

Even though I miss some aspects of the earlier days of voice over, and I am still not a big fan of technology, at no point did I ever want to throw in the towel to pursue another career. As with any type of freelance career, income can fluctuate. But even during years when we didn’t make as much money as we’d hoped, I’m still making more than I would at any other job that uses my education, experience, and skills.

The strategies I used to keep my voice over career going can be used by anyone in any career. They are:

• Look forward, not back: Remember, the past is always rosier in your mind, and new things can be even more exciting.
• Know your limitations: There was no doubt I was not a computer person, and I never pretended to be.
• Learn and adapt: I was willing to learn what I needed to stay in the game. This reminds me of an Eleanor Roosevelt quote: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” And I certainly thought I couldn’t do all those computer tasks!
• Get a game plan: Those six months of preparing for a voice over career gave me a solid path and foundation for moving forward.
• Keep your eye on the prize: Voice over work was and is my passion. No matter what challenges I need to face, I remind myself daily how lucky I am to have a job I love.

Will I still love voice over with artificial intelligence (AI) honing in? Ask me again in two years (kidding)! You can check out my take on voice over and AI in my next article: “Is the Golden Age of Voice Over Gone? Part Two: Here Comes AI.” Stay tuned!