AI voice is shaking up the speed and structure of audio content production.

AI audio technology startup ElevenLabs has partnered with global audio platform company SpoonLabs to accelerate industry innovation by transitioning existing production methods centered on voice actor recording to an AI-based process.

Spoon Labs recently launched a new audio novel service called 'PodNovel' and applied Eleven Labs' voice AI technology to the entire content production process. As a result, the production time, which previously took 4 to 7 months per episode, has been shortened to just a few hours, and a multilingual production system has been secured that enables simultaneous release in three countries: Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. This is the background behind building a lineup of over 100 types of content in a short period of time.

This change is significant not merely as automation, but as a transformation of the audio content production structure itself.

The existing voice actor recording method had limitations in scalability due to scheduling, repetitive recording, and cost burdens.

On the other hand, AI voice-based production enables mass production while maintaining quality, marking a groundbreaking turning point in Spoon Labs' business expansion strategy.

The voice quality is particularly noteworthy.

Spoon Labs conducted comparative tests of multiple domestic and international TTS solutions under conditions similar to actual production environments prior to implementation.

The evaluation criteria were not simple pronunciation accuracy, but rather intonation changes based on punctuation and emotional expression.

Eleven Labs implements emotions such as joy, sadness, and anger in a contextual manner and received the evaluation that it is closest to an 'acting voice' rather than a robotic sound.

In addition, the fact that it provides all the elements necessary for audio production, from voice duplication and background music to sound effect generation, on a single platform also led to the choice.

Creators can complete content in an integrated environment without the need to switch between separate tools.

Podnovel, first released last January, has started with 30 titles in Korea, 26 in Japan, and 19 in Taiwan, and users have been responding that “the level of immersion is so high that you don’t realize it is AI.”

Spoon Labs plans to further strengthen its content competitiveness in a short period of time by releasing more than three new titles per country every week starting this month.

Kim Hyun, Team Leader of the Podnovel Content Team at Spoon Labs, stated, “The essence of audio content is ultimately entertainment, and the key factor determining this is the quality of the voice.”He said, “The introduction of AI has simultaneously improved production speed and scalability, which signifies a change in the production paradigm beyond just efficiency.”

Hong Sang-won, General Manager of Eleven Labs Korea, stated, “AI voice will become the new standard for creators and platform operators specializing in story audio,” adding, “We will continue to expand collaborations with media and content companies to establish the standards for AI-based audio production.”