We, the undersigned, support human narration of audiobooks, and celebrate the creative artistry of human narrators over any and all synthetic recitations. 

Moreover, as these digital text-to-speech (TTS) versions are not audiobooks insofar as consumers have come to know and love them, we insist that if and when a synthetic voice is used to generate an audio rendition of a book, that it be clearly labeled as such, so that consumers have full knowledge and control over their purchase decisions.

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The board of the Professional Audiobook Narrators Association (PANA)*, on behalf of our members, is seeking the support of authors, listeners, and others who believe that audiobooks should remain narrated by humans, recognizing that oral storytelling is an art form that predates the written word and which can never be replicated by artificial intelligence.

Apple Books​, Google Books, and other tech companies have started launching digital audiobook narration services, primarily to independent authors, with the pitch focused on the upfront cost-savings of employing their synthetic digital voices/production services instead of hiring costly ‘talent’ (AKA a human narrator) for their audiobooks. Savings that, to date, have not been mentioned anywhere as being passed on to the consumer.

Publisher’s Weekly, Oct 29, 2021: “Wouldn’t it be great if publishers could get rid of ‘the talent’ and reduce the long production cycles, push a button, and, presto, an instant audiobook, ready for sale?”

Concerned that their human narrator’s “engaging delivery” diverted focus from their written words, at least one author is already championing digital narration, while the overwhelming majority of authors deeply believe in the art form of having a professional narrator breathe life into their books, both fiction and non-fiction.

Andrew Liptak, 1/7/23: “An audiobook is not a recitation of an author's printed text: it's a performance in and of itself, and while you can replicate a voice, it's difficult – if not impossible – to replicate the performance.”

Ilana Masad, 1/4/23: “While I fully understand that synthetic voices are useful (and used!) by programs like screen readers and are far more efficient and helpful in those cases, in the case of an audiobook, I strongly believe that a work of literature will be poorer for its use of synthetic voice.” (comments shared with PANA directly)

Tanya Eby, 1/6/23: “Let’s call it what it is. AI audiobooks are NOT audiobooks. They’re text-to-speech programs. An audiobook is performed by an actor (or many actors) who interprets the words of an author to create an experience that is layered with meaning and nuance.”

Additionally, several bestselling authors have taken to Twitter to express their thoughts:

Catherynne M. Valente @catvalente, 11/2/21: “Some companies are EXTREMELY eager to ‘disrupt’ what has become an incredibly lucrative audiobook market by getting rid of all working narrators & replacing them with a program. You can see the respect these companies have for actors in those sarcastiquotes around ‘the talent.’”

Travis Baldree @travisbaldree, 1/5/23: “AI narration is not going to ever be good in the way a human is.”

Dahlia Adler @MissDahlELama, 1/5/23: “No.”

Sign this petition today and lend professional audiobook narrators around the world YOUR voice, saying loud and clear that you want to keep humanity in storytelling and to have humans continue to breathe life into audiobooks for years and years to come.

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*PANA’s mission is to advocate for the common, collective business interests of professional audiobook narrators. This includes providing opportunities for raising awareness of the narrator within public consciousness; advocating for higher narration standards within the industry; recognizing the importance of anti-racism work as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; providing networking opportunities with fellow narrators and industry casting directors; connecting narrators with a variety of professional and personal resources; and identifying, addressing, and advocating for our collective business issues and interests in the publishing industry. 

For more information about our organization, please visit www.pronarrators.org.