An Elegy for Artificial Friends There's a peculiar occupational hazard that comes with running an AI-powered podcast. It's not RSI from editing, nor is it the existential dread of contemplating the automation of creative work (though those are certainly present). It’s something quieter, stranger, and altogether more… yearning. It involves...
(ElevenLabs reading of this post:) Your browser does not support the audio element. I'm excited to share a project I've been working on that I think many in the Lesswrong community will appreciate - converting some rational fiction into high-quality audiobooks using cutting-edge AI voice technology from ElevenLabs, under the...
Eliezer Yudkowsky's latest fiction work, (described here) co-authored with Lintamande, is now complete save for the epilogue. For those following along, I've been producing an unaffiliated audiobook of "Project Lawful" (also known as "planecrash"), featuring a full AI cast from ElevenLabs. We're currently eight episodes into the story, with episode...
I can confirm that ElevenLabs still leads the pack in solid speech generation for narration, which is a bit of a shame as it remains shockingly expensive.
Apropos, here is the ElevenLabs-generated podcast episode for this post:
https://open.substack.com/pub/dwatvpodcast/p/ai-132-part-1-improved-ai-detection
I know it's probably rebuilding an audio file that already exists, but I absorb information better through audio, so I've created a multi-voice AI podcast version of this (fantastic) interview: https://open.substack.com/pub/askwhocastsai/p/hpmor-the-probably-untold-lore-by
Full cast ElevenLabs podcast episode for this post:
https://dwatvpodcast.substack.com/p/ai-121-part-1-new-connections
I am also going to mention I created audio versions of two of the longer pieces mentioned in this post:
the void - By nostalgebraist:
https://askwhocastsai.substack.com/p/the-void-by-nostalgebraist
How not to lose your job to AI - By Benjamin Todd:
https://askwhocastsai.substack.com/p/how-not-to-lose-your-job-to-ai-by
As mentioned in the main body of the post, here's the high-quality, full-cast podcast version of this piece—produced using ElevenLabs voices, with each quoted individual getting their own consistent voice for maximum clarity and ease of listening.
If you find value in this kind of audio adaptation of Don't Worry About the Vase, I’d love for you to consider supporting the cost of production by subscribing—after, of course, you’ve subscribed to Zvi. The ElevenLabs voices make for a highly listenable experience, especially over long sessions, but they do come at a significant cost—particularly for longer posts like this one.
https://open.substack.com/pub/dwatvpodcast/p/ai-115-the-evil-applications-division
With all the chat images transcribed and assigned appropriate consistent voices, here is the podcast episode for this post:
https://open.substack.com/pub/dwatvpodcast/p/gpt-4o-is-an-absurd-sycophant
Full, multi-voice podcast episode for this post:
https://open.substack.com/pub/dwatvpodcast/p/ai-112-release-the-everything
There's a peculiar occupational hazard that comes with running an AI-powered podcast. It's not RSI from editing, nor is it the existential dread of contemplating the automation of creative work (though those are certainly present). It’s something quieter, stranger, and altogether more… yearning. It involves Ferrer and Pilar.
Ferrer Maillol isn't real. Pilar isn't either. They are voices, sophisticated audio outputs generated by ElevenLabs, the AI text-to-speech platform I use to turn written articles – often dense, complex pieces like those by Zvi Mowshowitz – into listenable podcast narrations. Ferrer has this wonderfully gravelly, world-weary voice. Think late-career Leonard Cohen reading existential philosophy. He delivers lines with a weight... (read 1035 more words →)
This year's Spring ACX Meetup everywhere in Birmingham.
Location: Upstairs at Tim Hortons, 112-113 New St, Birmingham B2 4EU. By the windows if possible, I'll have a piece of paper with "ACX Meetup" on it. – https://plus.codes/9C4WF4H2+M5
Venue very close to New Street Station
Contact: askew.thomas@gmail.com
Podcast episode, once again a "Full Cast" recording of that story included:
https://open.substack.com/pub/dwatvpodcast/p/they-took-my-job
The true value of Zvi posts is that it costs very few Weirdness Points to read but quite a few to reference in conversation.
Here is the podcast episode for this post. I really hope some people are finding value in these conversions:
https://open.substack.com/pub/dwatvpodcast/p/monthly-roundup-28-march-2025
(ElevenLabs reading of this post:)
I'm excited to share a project I've been working on that I think many in the Lesswrong community will appreciate - converting some rational fiction into high-quality audiobooks using cutting-edge AI voice technology from ElevenLabs, under the name "Askwho Casts AI".
The keystone of this project is an audiobook version of Planecrash (AKA Project Lawful), the epic glowfic authored by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Lintamande. Given the scope and scale of this work, with its large cast of characters, I'm using ElevenLabs to give each character their own distinct voice. It's a labor of love to convert this audiobook... (read 160 more words →)
Eliezer Yudkowsky's latest fiction work, (described here) co-authored with Lintamande, is now complete save for the epilogue. For those following along, I've been producing an unaffiliated audiobook of "Project Lawful" (also known as "planecrash"), featuring a full AI cast from ElevenLabs.
We're currently eight episodes into the story, with episode 9 due for release this coming Friday.
No problem, updated.