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Steven Parker
231,248 PointsNot quite "ready for prime time"
As far as these technologies have come, I don't think they're close to being a suitable method for instruction content creation just yet (and perhaps not for a while). Even if the video seems natural, when combined with the sound the poor lip sync and mismatch of the vocal quality with the speaker image give the impression of a hasty overdub.
But even if there was no visible speaker image, the voice itself would be an issue. If I close my eyes, I'm reminded of the synthesized voice-overs I typically hear in advertising videos made by non-English speaking content creators. There are still some subtleties in cadence and inflection that make voices created by AI systems sound awkward and unnatural.
I''ll send a copy of this to the feedback mailbox, but I also wanted to share it with the forum users.
1 Answer
Kari Brooks
Treehouse StaffThanks for your feedback! While today’s AI technology can simulate human speech and gestures, it doesn't yet capture the nuances of human communication and movement. This is a problem for those learners who only want “the real deal”, and we get that. It's definitely not for everyone!
There's a growing interest in the use of AI voices and avatars as virtual instructors, and Treehouse won’t be left behind. We’re embracing the explosion in AI advancements and doing what we can to bring that to our students, and we’re excited to continue exploring emerging technologies in this field. We recognize that avatars and text-to-speech (TTS) tools can’t replace the human experience of teaching and learning — and we’re not trying to. Synthesia offers many benefits like efficiency, scalability, and the potential for greater diversity and inclusivity; however, it can’t compete with videos created by professional production teams, which Treehouse will continue to create.
Still, we think it’s pretty cool that we can offer our students a front-row seat to evolving technologies like Synthesia and ChatGPT! It's hard NOT to be impressed by the incredible strides being made in this field these days. Watching a course presented by an avatar should be nothing short of fascinating to learners interested in AI.
As AI technology advances, so does the growing demand for human experts — not just in AI and machine learning, but also the demand for professionals who can ideate and design AI-generated videos like this one. AI is changing the industry, and we'll continue sharing what we learn with our students, using student feedback as our guide. Thanks again!