Narration makes a big difference to the quality of an audio book. AI is always going to be a good "lowest common denominator" solution, but I very much doubt it will be competitive with many of the better audiobook narrators. (I'm still salty about the switch to a shittier narrator in Asimov's Foundation series. It made one of my favorite book series objectively <i>worse</i> in quality.),(reply>), @Jess H You're confusing different points in the argument. I used 5 years as a way to draw out the "almost here". The time period for outright replacing humans is "unknown, possibly until the Sun gobbles the Earth up".<br><br>Can't say I'm afraid of the technology, though I am rolling my eyes at the FUD. A lot.<br><br>You see, I'm a software engineer. One who carefully studied the problem of AI and predicted the capabilities we see today. One of my favorite examples in explaining why language models are probabilistic in nature is a sign I passed that said, "Polish Deli". A human knows that's "Polish" as in the ethnicity. A computer would not be able to tell the difference between shining a surface or the ethnicity and would request a human solve it for them. <b>Unless</b> they're trained in a probabilistic model where ethnicity makes sense and shiny stuff doesn't. <br><br>(Note that this is a mistake that a child might make. A common theme in getting computers to do more complex tasks, where they act more human in their mistakes the more complex the task. Turns out humans aren't as imperfect as we previously believed them to be.)<br><br>With that knowledge in mind, I understand what these tools are doing. And I interact with them. And while I find uses for them, it sometimes feels like interacting with an intern who's just learning the job.<br><br>The reason for this is that AI is focused on unconscious processes. Unconscious processes are basically energy-saving neural networks created by your conscious to make tasks easy. <br><br>The neurology of it would take some time to explain, but understand this: They are useful processes that represent the skills you've acquired, but they are not "you" the conscious being. If you want to understand more, I recommend David Eagleman's books,. starting with "Incognito". David is not only foremost in his field of neuroscience, but he's taken it upon himself to help the general populace understand what we've learned about how the human brain works.,(reply>), @thewiirocks we’ll agree to disagree,(reply>), @PIAT Hasn’t happened. Won’t happen. Piloting is a very easy problem and fully automated flights have been available since the 1970s. Autoland is a system that makes bad weather landings possible thanks to the system’s superior knowledge of its position using instruments. The system has been around since 1968. ACAS and ASAS are automation tools that prevent airline collisions and ensure separation between flights. Those have been around since WWII. And I’m sure you’re familiar with autopilot, which has been more than advanced enough to get a plane from point A to point B for decades. Yet outside of drones (which still take commands from humans) aircraft continue to have a pilot.<br><br>Self-driving will be the same. As much as I would love to see a fully automated fleet of vehicles that require no human input, I sincerely doubt we’re going to be seeing it anytime soon. If we don’t allow unmanned for the easy problem of flying, why would we allow it for the much harder problem of driving? Self driving will continue toward a labor saving and safety mechanism. I doubt you will see legally unmanned vehicles outside of prototypes within the next 5 or even 10 years. (Yes, WayMo is a prototype. And its accident track record is HORRIBLE.)<br><br>Art can be a very subjective area. But mark my words. Once the initial excitement dies down, you’ll find that everyone starts considering AI a new paintbrush that artists can use and not a replacement for the artist themselves.,(reply>), @thewiirocks pilots, drivers, many programmers, it already is coming for artists.,(reply>), @PIAT And what skilled jobs have AI replaced so far? What jobs do you think it will replace in the next 5 years?