Audiobook narrators are increasingly worried that AI voices will take our jobs.
AI is here to stay. The resources on this page offer facts about the situation and actions to take toward a thriving career.
First, several voice organizations joined forces to produce this 1:02:57 video The State of AI: A VO Industry Panel.
In her inspiring 35:28 2025 PANAcon keynote address below, award-winning audiobook narrator Robin Miles offers numerous suggestions of concrete actions you can do immediately, including:
- Do live read-alouds, including audio dramas, improv, and book club appearances.
- Record books in the Public Domain. Of course I agree! It’s empowering to make your own opportunities and produce work of your choosing. NarratorsRoadmap members will find all sorts of useful info and resources about PD books, and everyone can access my Public Domain Narration Headquarters page with even more links, including a categorized Q&A.
- Volunteer to narrate for non-profit services. You can concentrate on performance.
Whether you fear or embrace AI, the best advice for any audiobook narrator is to continue taking classes and coaching so you can get BETTER at your performance!
Make your performances so compelling that your human storytelling could never be confused with a virtual voice.
Other resources on this topic:
- You can add language like this NAVA Synthetic Voice/Artificial Intelligence rider to your contracts.
- Award-winning narrator Adam Verner wrote the compelling essay Why AI Narrators Will Never Be Able to Tell a Real Human Story.
- Award-winning narrator Tavia Gilbert eloquently discusses the emotional component of audiobook production in this LinkedIn post and this one.
- Award-winning narrator Elise Arsenault’s TEDxAnchorage talk The Power of a Human Storyteller in the Age of A.I. gives viewers food for thought.
- In my article Much More Than “Just Reading”, I wrote about the extensive work that narrators do to make organic acting choices and impart meaning to every word.
- I addressed one production company’s enthusiasm for AI technology in the article An Open Letter to Bee Audio.
- Tina Dietz, owner of Twin Flames Studios, wrote The State of AI Audiobooks in 2025 and shared her observations of trends, a comparison of human- and AI-narrated clips, and additional resources.
- Seth Godin wrote about how people have adapted (or not) after previous technological advances in Productivity, AI, and pushback. In his follow-up post Job Churn, Godin lists numerous occupations that have changed as a result of technology and challenges us to look as this transformative time as an opportunity.