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Text to speech (TTS)
Text to speech (TTS) is technology that reads written text aloud in a natural-sounding voice. AI has made these voices far more lifelike.
Also called AI voice generator, speech synthesis, text-to-speech
In more detail
Modern TTS uses deep learning to add natural rhythm, emotion and emphasis, in many languages and accents. It is used in audiobooks, navigation, accessibility tools, video voice-overs and voice assistants.
The opposite direction, turning speech into text, is speech recognition. Copying a specific person’s voice is voice cloning.
Example
A screen reader reading a web page aloud, or a narrated video made from a typed script.
Related terms
Speech recognitionSpeech recognition is AI that turns spoken words into text, so you can talk to a device or get a written transcript of audio.Voice cloningVoice cloning is AI that learns to imitate a specific person’s voice from a sample recording, then says new things in that voice.Voice assistantA voice assistant is an AI assistant you control by speaking, such as Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant, that answers questions and controls devices.AI avatarAn AI avatar is a digital character, often a realistic person, that AI animates to speak a script, used for training videos, marketing and social media.
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