As mentioned in our Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Instructional Design post, AI is becoming more and more entrenched in our daily lives. Working in the EdTech space, we’ve started to see the increased use of AI – particularly in terms of mixed media asset creation.
Recently we dipped our toe in the pool and have started to incorporate AI voiceovers in our educational videos. For example, our original Introduction to Da Vinci Resolve tutorial features narration provided by a text to speech program. Here is our experience and observations from that project.
The Background
Six months ago, the Instructional Design and Creative Teams collaborated to produce a tutorial about how to create a video project on the editing program DaVinci Resolve. The main purpose of this tutorial was an internal cross-training opportunity rather than something to be used for public consumption. Creative decisions were dictated by what new skills each team could learn from each other and what could be put together quickly rather than creating a polished output. This led both teams to forgo traditional recorded narration and use MicMonster, a text to speech tool that can generate AI voiceovers.
Later down the line, Interserv decided to explore publishing content on YouTube and the DaVinci resolve video was chosen as a test upload. A few months later (and with a lot more views than initially anticipated!), the tutorial was revisited to see how it could be improved. The result was a better produced 3-part series (Part 1, 2, and 3) with increased content and, interestingly, an actual voiceover rather than AI.
The Highs
AI narration played a large role in being able to put together a video quickly. The benefits included:
1. Less time consumption
With a few clicks of a button, we were able to obtain a voice over without having to worry about the time taken for talent scheduling, recording and sound editing.
2. Less cost
MicMonster is a free program, meaning it’s definitely far less costly than having to hire a voice over artist.
3. A diverse talent pool
MicMonster offers a variety of voices and accents to choose from.
The Lows
While using an AI generated voice came with the above benefits, it still couldn’t 100% replace the connection we could create with a human voice over. Despite being able to choose the right “character” for our video, we found AI narration to still be stilted and mechanical. From our experience, it couldn’t replicate the warm or emotion from traditional voice over recording. It was for this reason that we decided to use an actual recording for the updated DaVinci series rather than turning back to AI.
View the videos below to hear the difference.
The Original
The Update
Going Forward
With this experience, are we able to confidently say we would always choose one method of voiceover when compared to the other? Short answer, no.
At the moment, traditional voiceovers sound so much better and it’s easier for listeners to engage with the content. However, given that it can be time consuming and costly, it may not always be the most suitable option. For a no-fuss video that needs to be created quickly, we would lean more towards AI. Like with most things, it all depends on what the priorities are.
