AI Voice Technology: What’s Real, What’s Hype?
- Jim Kennelly
- Apr 14
- 4 min read
Here's a Veteran Production Team’s Take on “AI Snake Oil” for Our Voice Talent and Brand Partners
If you’ve been wondering how AI voice technology fits into your work—whether you’re creating content, casting voices, or performing behind the mic—you aren't alone. With so much hype surrounding AI, it can be tough to know what’s really useful and what’s just noise & hype.
With over 40 years in voice casting and audio production, we’ve built our reputation by staying curious and adaptable through every wave of change. As AI voice technology continues to evolve, we’re committed to staying informed and asking thoughtful questions—just like all of you. We recently spent time with Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor’s AI Snake Oil, a smart look at the realities of AI today. We found their insights valuable and wanted to share our takeaways, along with how they resonate with what we’re seeing in voice production right now.
When AI Shines and Where It Falls Flat
These AI voices are getting so incredibly good at pattern matching. The technology can analyze speech patterns and reproduce them with increasing accuracy. That’s not snake oil; that’s legitimate progress.
But here’s what often goes unmentioned: AI still can’t make the creative decisions that matter. When a script needs emotional intelligence or when a brand voice needs to hit just the right cultural note, AI has limitations. After directing voice talent for four decades, we’ve witnessed the magic that happens when a skilled actor brings their intuition and experience to the booth. No algorithm can replace that unique quality.
To Our Voice Talent Family: You're Invaluable
Many of you have asked if you should be concerned. After 40 years in this business, here’s our take:
The most valuable things you bring can’t be replicated by code. When we’re directing a session and ask for “more warmth, but with a hint of authority,” and you nail it on the next take—that’s irreplaceable. That’s your edge when you intuitively understand how to speak to a specific audience because you’ve lived, breathed, and performed in this industry for years.
Think of it this way: an AI voice is like someone reciting memorized lines from a novel, while a voice actor is the author who understands the story’s depth, characters, and emotional journey. One reproduces words; the other comprehends the meaning, context, and purpose at a fundamental level.
To Our Brand Partners: Don't be Fooled by Hype
We’ve helped global brands find their voice since before most AI researchers were born. Here’s what we’ve learned about these new AI voice systems:
Don’t get tangled up & dazzled by tech jargon. Ask us specifically what problem the AI is solving in your project. Is it helping us rapidly create variations for your personalized messaging campaign? Great. Is it allowing us to update your phone system prompts across multiple markets quickly? Fantastic.
But if someone suggests AI will capture the emotional essence of your brand without human creative direction, that’s an overstatement. Throughout our journey in this industry, we’ve learned that finding your brand’s voice is as much an art as it is a science.
How We’re Blending Human Art and AI Efficiency
We've produced thousands of sessions and see the voice production landscape changing rapidly. Some projects sit clearly at opposite ends of the spectrum. When we need to generate thousands of personalized message variations saying “Happy Birthday, [Name]” in a consistent voice, AI shines. It’s a logical efficiency play, and we’ve always been about working smarter, not harder.
But when your brand needs to make an emotional connection—when you need a voice that can convey subtle humor, genuine empathy, or cultural authenticity—nothing beats the human voice actors we’ve discovered and developed over the years. They don’t just read words; they interpret meaning and bring creative partnership to every project.
Many projects benefit from both. Our experience tells us that the sweet spot is using AI to handle scale and repetition while keeping humans for creative direction and emotional resonance. That’s not just our opinion—it’s getting consistent results for our clients as technology evolves.
Ethics in Voice Production
After four decades in this business, we’ve developed strong values about ethical practices. As AI enters our world, these matter more than ever. We will always be transparent about when we’re using synthetic voices—with our clients and with audiences. Without explicit permission and fair compensation, we will never use a voice actor’s recordings to train AI. We will advocate for properly crediting human voices and the technologists who develop voice systems. These aren’t just niceties—they’re the foundation of trust we’ve built our business on since the days of reel-to-reel.
Moving Forward Together
We didn’t build Lotas Productions into a global voice casting leader by fighting against technology. We succeeded by using each new tool to enhance what talented humans can do. That’s precisely how we’ll approach AI voice technology.
To our voice actors: We’re committed to finding you meaningful, creative work as this technology evolves.
To our brand clients: We promise to guide you on when AI makes sense and when human talent will deliver superior results.
After so many years of navigating industry changes, we’ve learned one thing for sure: Those who adapt thoughtfully always find new opportunities. Each technological wave has ultimately expanded what’s possible in our craft. Let’s navigate this new frontier together!
Citations
Narayanan, A., & Kapoor, S. (2024). AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference. Princeton University Press.
