Post #1522950
2026-04-22 11:41 UTC
Replies (18)
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@azteclady@kind.social 2026-04-22 11:55
@Cal@kind.social Disclosure is key for me; and I hate the intrusion of "okay, but why", and yet, the why matters: is it for accessibility? Please, do! Any other reason is a, "extremely negative" reaction.
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@toydrgn@rubber.social 2026-04-22 12:16
@Cal@kind.social For me it kinda depends on video length. I find TTS narration pretty hard to listen to (as in, it takes extra effort to pay attention.) That's fine for relatively short videos, but I don't think I could watch a TTS video that's an hour long.
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@Cal@kind.social 2026-04-22 11:44
If I had money I'd pay someone to narrate videos for me and the problem would just go away. But I don't, so I can't. And my channel isn't even *close* to being monetised.
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@kkarhan@jorts.horse 2026-04-22 12:12
@Cal I think that #TTS, if done good, is - at worst - okay. Not only because a lot of folks put videos in the background andPeople will watch a video regardless if DCI-8K + HDR or "extra crunchy" 76p24but if the #audio is "ear rape" they won't even use it as #AntiBurnIn-Footage on mute!Also not everyone has a #voice and it would be rather ableist to deny people that option.Also there are means to tweak it so it doesn't sound shit.Tho "#Anonymous Voice" never gets old!
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@j_bertolotti@mathstodon.xyz 2026-04-22 12:37
@Cal I really enjoyed the videos by TalesFromTheOrdoRedactus despite the text-to-speech for narration and the AI-generated background image. The quality was not what it could have been with a human narrator and a human-drawn image, but the writing was good and it was a tiny channel. So I'd say my attitude to something similar would be positive.
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@jenni@appdot.net 2026-04-22 12:39
@Cal for me it comes down to the quality of the text-to-speech. especially if it is a longer text. Sure some nuances might get lost but with a good one the basis can be there - but pure robo-voice is problematic imo because it can be hard to listen to over longer times since it taxes the brain more.
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@JustinH@twit.social 2026-04-22 12:47
@Cal I would rather listen to a thick accent
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@Bright5park@kind.social 2026-04-22 12:51
@Cal Personally, it is a split between thoughts about the creator, and my enjoyment of the content. I would appreciate the honesty and acknowledge the effort, and have no ill will towards content creators for using TTS, especially if it's disclosed and made with the efforts you described. However, personally I perceive myself as being quite sensitive to issues that can come from text-to-speech, like being TOO consistent with pronunciation and intonation to the point of sounding repetitive.
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@akane@vocalounge.cafe 2026-04-22 12:51
@Cal Voiceroids are the best, especially Kotonohas
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@Wearwolf@kind.social 2026-04-22 12:53
@Cal a few years ago I would have said "make whatever you can make " but now text-to-speech sets off my AI detector and makes me question if anything is real If this is for your bus vlog then I think it benefits from having actual footage under it. The fact that it will look like someone went out and filmed specific things for a reason
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@zappes@mastodon.online 2026-04-22 13:19
@Cal I chose "negative", but not because I have a problem with TTS as such. It's just because TTS narration feels to me like sandpaper being rubbed on my brain. I have the hypothesis that my autistic traits play a role here. Texts from the LLM, TTS - all these things are jarring to me even though the neurotypicals don't seem to mind. Perhaps the autistic brain is really good at recognizing that this stuff is "slightly off" in some way?
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@Stegosaur@defcon.social 2026-04-22 13:25
@Cal It *really* depends on the content, the TTS, the output, the tools - everything, really. Some creators do fairly well with TTS in terms of content and narrative but then fall on their face with a grating, unlistenable execution (think MonkeyExplains). Others just use it to output cheap slop. I think it could be done well, and I’m generally supportive of new creators using it to find their voice so to speak (or creating one for them if they lack a voice themselves, as an accessibility tool), but my default, knee-jerk reaction is negative simply due to the glut of slop out there built on it. It’s an uphill battle, in other words.
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@colinstu@birdbutt.com 2026-04-22 13:45
@Cal I click off of those vids :/ (Don’t take it personally.) (I just like hearing a real voice.) (proper VO/narration is a huge barrier… one that easily helps filter out a lot of bad actors, but sadly includes legitimate folks too) Do we need voice at all? Why can’t written words or visual things used to get the same point across?
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@jepyang@wandering.shop 2026-04-22 14:12
@Cal ethically/emotionally i have no problem with what you’re describing. like i wouldn’t be mad it exists, i wouldn’t spitefully hit the dislike button, i would probably be willing to boost the videos. but otoh i probably wouldn’t watch the videos myself, text to speech is just tough to listen to :/ i would much rather read captions on a silent video.
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@CIMB4@norden.social 2026-04-22 14:32
@Cal i've pondered for a while and i think my most preffered way to handle this would be text captions with an accompanying sound, like how in animal crossing u can choose to have a dull click for every letter or an animalese mess. i would much prefer a sound not pretending to be human speech than something generated or a robotic old school tts voice or silent captions (they feel awkward ro me, i can better focus with some audio queues)
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@RandomHost@tech.lgbt 2026-04-22 14:56
@Cal Even if it is not generative AI, my brain automatically associates TTS voice overs with propaganda and misinformation. There is a selection of common text to speech voices which have been used in so many low quality click bait videos that I have a somewhat autonomous reaction to hit the "back" key on my remote the moment I recognize them.
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@Alairthephoenix@pounced-on.me 2026-04-22 21:01
@Cal very good *if* the captioning is accurate. I don't particularly care if it's a person's "real voice", so long as I can follow along with human edited captioning.
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@foxbutt@gulp.cafe 2026-04-29 16:50
@Cal generally someone who myself uses (pre-AI) TTS voices in my videos, i am fine with it. i do write the words entirely myself and make sure it sounds good. i dont usually disclose that its TTS but its one of those voices where its generally obvious IMO. my main concern and reason for even using TTS is because i am so shy and i dont want my voice out there to be trained into an AI model without my consent.