AI-generated Voice or Human Voice
this is the question
The world has recently found itself in quite a dilemma. The choice between the human voice and AI voice is a complicated but humane one. On the one hand, it is infinitely fascinating to talk to a machine or hear a voice you know does not have a person behind it. On the other hand, the warmth and emotion behind a human’s voice and personality can hardly be replaced.
In this article, I will examine the businesses that have claimed one of these territories as their own, businesses that almost exclusively use human voice or AI-generated voice. We will also investigate the most prominent companies in each market, and finally, we will see the market sizes for the two separate businesses. For now, let us take a look at the areas that are dominated by AI-generated voice.
New Areas in AI-generated Voice
Website content
These days, more and more websites choose their content to be auditory as well as text. This choice is due to the fact that written text might cause some problems for the vision impaired and the geriatric audience of websites. Changing the entire content of the website can only be done through technology and specifically Artificial Intelligence.
Voice Assistants
Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, and many other voice assistants are becoming increasingly popular these days. It looks like these assistants are soon becoming an integral part of our lives at home, work, and even in the car. The AI-generated voice that comes with these assistants sounds like the human voice more and more every day.
Gaming
Would you like to use your voice instead of pushing buttons in your game? The technology for voice-controlled gaming has now grown enough to make a fundamental change in the gaming industry. Augmented reality and Virtual reality are now becoming an inseparable part of the gaming world. Voice technology is the new trend that will probably take gaming to a new level.
Voice recognition
AI-generated voice has another side as well. With text to speech and AI-generated voice, there is a need for voice recognition technologies. Voice recognition, or Natural Language Understanding, is a new trend in this growing industry that cannot be ignored.
Companies in the AI-generated voice business
Nuance Communications (NUAN)
Nuance Communications is one of the leading names in conversational AI technology. This company has created voice-related solutions in the healthcare, financial services, telecom, retail, and government sectors. However, the main focus of Nuance is on the healthcare industry. More than 10 thousand healthcare organizations worldwide use Nuance systems to streamline their documentation process and improve patient communications.
In 2018, Nuance Communications was acquired by Microsoft in order to develop its conversational AI technology further. The goal was to expand the success of Nuance’s solution in the medical community and use it in travel, telecommunications, retail, and many other industries.
The stock for Nuance Communications is currently traded for $55.18 per share. This stock had grown exponentially since January 2020, when it was $18.40. According to analysis, this stock will increase by 5.20% per year in the next five years. in the current year, 2021, Nuance Communications is estimated to have a revenue of 1.38 billion dollars, which has a 6% decrease since its previous year.
ReadSpeaker
ReadSpeaker is a global company that uses its own trademark technology to create a life-like voice. The next-generation Deep Neural Network technology that ReadSpeaker uses to improve speech quality is exceptionally cutting-edge. ReadSpeaker’s solutions are used in the automotive industry. The other areas that this technology has found customers in include: education, accessibility, conversational system, entertainment, government, healthcare, broadcast systems, and publishing.
ReadSpeaker is a subsidiary of the Memory Disk Division of the HOYA corporation, which is a Japanese company and one of the leading names in the medical equipment industry. This company started its work with making eyeglass lenses in 1962. Today, HOYA has offices all around the world and many subsidiaries in different sectors.
The stock price for HOYA is currently 170.42 dollars per share. This stock had had a sudden growth spurt since January 2020, when it was $8 per share. The revenue for HOYA was reported to be 5.325 billion dollars in 2020.
LumenVox LLC
LumenVox is another company in the voice generation business. This company’s text-to-speech technology provides the customers with voices in 32 languages with male and female voices. The main application of this service is in customer relations, phone services, and automotive applications.
However, the main focus of LumenVox is on its voice recognition technology. This technology is used by 300 banks, telecom service providers, and emergency service operators. In 2018, LumenVox merged with VoiceTrust to improve its voice recognition technology and put it to use in anti-fraud measures in offices and banks. Along with other services by VoiceTrust, this system can provide the customers with a comprehensive safety mechanism that is the best in its class.
iFlytek (SZ)
iFlytek is a Chinese company founded in 1999. This company works with Artificial Intelligence related technologies, specifically AI-generated voice. iFlytek’s products and services cover a wide range of life activities, from your work to your education and daily routine.
Jarvisen is one of iFlytek’s systems that’s widely used in the Asia-Pacific area. This is a new-generation translation service that allows customers to communicate in more than 55 languages. The other services provided by this company include iFlytek’s Intelligence Conference System, Global Chinese Learning Platform, and AI Outbound System.
iFlytek was introduced to the stock market in 2018, and currently, the stock for this company is traded for 49.53 Chinese Yuan, which is 7.67 US dollars. This stock experienced a peak price in June 2021 with 65.98 Yuan. However, since then, it has dropped to 49.53 Yuan. Analysts believe that the stock for iFlytek will rise by 44% per year in the next five years. iFlytek reported having 6.3 billion Yuan revenue in 2021, which is approximately 976 million US dollars.
The market size for AI-generated voice technology
The global market for AI-generated voice is estimated to be 2 billion US dollars. This market is driven by several factors, such as the growing demand for voice-activated systems and software and the extensive use of voice assistants. Some of the most prominent names in today’s technology, such as Microsoft, IBM, Google, and Amazon, are playing a significant role in this market. However, this article showed that some other companies in this business are growing fast and making a name for themselves in the market.
As you saw, the market for AI-generated voices is growing by the day. However, the competition between AI-generated voice and the human voice is slowly tilting towards computers and machines. Right now, the market for the human voice is larger. On the other hand, it will not remain so. The growth rate for AI-generated voice is so significant that it will probably take over the human voice market in a few short years.
