Carly Quellman is a movement artist, storyteller and disability advocate whose work challenges and strips perspective around the human experience. As an advocate for young women, artistic potential and the "anomaly" identity, Carly dedicates her time to spreading the power of expression. She resides in Los Angeles.
How do you make the written word more exciting? Whether it's reading an article while you're on the go and can't look at a screen or hearing your own drafts read out loud for perspective on how to develop them, sometimes we need an outside voice.
One way to do this? Using an artificial intelligence voice generator to mimic human intonation, like ElevenLabs.
ElevenLabs is the AI audio provider for publishing companies like The Washington Post, The Atlantic and, most recently, Time. It allows you to customize its voice based on context or personal preference.
ElevenLabs helps you to turn various forms of storytelling into something new. The AI software costs between $5 and $330 a month depending on the plan you choose, but it has a free trial option. Using my free trial -- which provides only 10 minutes of audio -- I jumped into a world of various tools.
Those tools include text-to-speech, speech-to-speech, dubbing (re-recording and mixing), text-to-sound effects and voice cloning. You can also use it to tell a story, introduce a podcast or create a video voiceover.
I can see how ElevenLabs is beneficial for content creators, but upon signing up, I was asked why I was on the platform -- and since "fun" was one of the first options on its drop-down menu, I believe this AI technology was also made for use outside of the professional world. In ElevenLabs' words, it's for "everyday users, professionals and businesses."
This also relates to its goal: "to make content universally accessible and to bridge language gaps and make digital interactions feel more human."
Additionally, ElevenLabs says it's committed to ensuring the "safe" use of AI. It does this by automated and human-led content moderation, preventing the creation of content made with what ElevenLabs considers high-risk voices, partnering with law enforcement to disclose illegal content, using voice verification technology to minimize unauthorized voice cloning tools and holding its users accountable for their actions by permanently banning those who violate its policies.
ElevenLabs also traces all generated content back to originating accounts -- for example, voice cloning tools are only available after users verify their accounts with billing details.
I can get with that. But once you're committed to the platform, how accessible is it to navigate?
Step 1: Insert your text into ElevenLabs' virtual narration technology. This allows you to input text and select various ways to fine-tune the narration so that it's conveyed authentically. (You can also input your own story, too.)
Step 2: Now, navigate to Speech Synthesis, copy and paste your article into the platform and you're ready to go. ElevenLabs has different settings to play around with the speech tool, change the gender of the voice and experiment with a vast number of narrators.
Step 3: Personalization is the key to this creation. So if you're not satisfied with the templated narrators, head over to VoiceLabs, where you can tailor the narration to adjust the parameters to align with your project's goals and audience. Here's the fun part: You can also use VoiceLabs to clone your voice, a feature perfect for content creators or anyone who truly enjoys the sound of their voice.
Step 4: After you've fine-tuned your narration -- whether through someone else's voice or your own -- it's time to export your options. ElevenLabs makes this pretty easy with its ability to download generated audio in various formats. You can sync the audio with your project's content to create a seamless storytelling experience for your audience, or for your own fun.
While I'm not in the TV or film industry, or a professional who works in production, I think what ElevenLabs has created is another tool to customize any written experience or to test ideas that can be implemented into a new project.
What I enjoy about ElevenLabs is its willingness to let you try before you buy. It offers a free trial of its program, as well as a sample to understand how its AI platform can be utilized. I had fun playing with different aspects of the platform and even hearing how my voice sounded when reading my daily intake of news.
I also believe that with recent AI headlines, like when OpenAI was accused of replicating actress Scarlett Johansson's voice without her permission, any type of virtual chatbot that mimics humans can feel misleading -- but then again, I am no expert on public figures, celebrities and media rights.
Will I think to use ElevenLabs when I'm reading a Time article or to craft a new version of an existing article? Probably not. But I do think it's interesting and innovative -- and I will certainly give kudos to that.
If I have the time, maybe I'll craft my appreciation in digital format... with my own voice narrating the sentiment.
For more ways to make your online life easier using artificial intelligence, check out CNET's AI Tips on how to use Midjourney to create a company logo, how to get Gemini to summarize a Google Doc and how to use AI to make a work presentation.
