Giving every language a voice: AI-powered audiobooks for everyone
This AI-based method cuts production costs by nearly 60 % and reduces production time to as little as one hour.
Aistis Raudys, CEO of AAI Labs
“Low-resource languages – those with limited digital data and few tools to help computers pronounce text – would often be overlooked in the audiobook market,” explains Aistis Raudys, CEO of AAI Labs(opens in new window), a Lithuanian AI company specialising in machine-learning and generative AI solutions. In 2022, a consortium led by AAI Labs received EU, LMT(opens in new window), HAMAG-BICRO(opens in new window) and DSTI(opens in new window) funding to develop Audiobooks for Everyone (AFE), an AI-powered platform that makes it faster and more affordable to create audiobooks in languages that are often overlooked. The support came through Eurostars(opens in new window), part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs, which helps innovative small companies work with international partners to bring new technologies to market. Thanks to this funding and active cross-border collaboration, AAI Labs and its partners combined AI expertise with publishing know-how from Europe and Africa, creating a solution that opens the audiobook market to more languages, readers and publishers.
Breaking down barriers
Without the right technology, audiobook production remains too expensive, especially for small publishers and authors, creating a cycle where these languages remain underserved. AFE uses cutting-edge AI to change the game. “AFE’s core innovation, cross-language voice cloning, functions as a voice translator, allowing the software to use one voice sample to narrate text in languages the speaker does not actually speak,” says Raudys. A single narrator can ‘voice’ a story in multiple languages, enabling immersive, multi-character audiobooks without hiring a full cast. The project brought together teams from Lithuania, Croatia and South Africa. AAI Labs led the technical development, building the speech synthesis systems and models. Bulaja Naklada(opens in new window) handled European data collection and testing, while Quickfox Publishing(opens in new window) provided African language datasets and developed the user-friendly Audiobook Creation Suite. “This team was essential, combining technical skills with market understanding to ensure the product was successful, inclusive and ready for markets in Africa and Europe,” explains Raudys.
Widening cultural horizons
Participation in the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs was key. “The partnership immediately expanded market access for Lithuania by providing new business opportunities and contacts in Croatia and South Africa,” notes Raudys. Beyond funding, it facilitated an exchange of expertise: AAI Labs shared AI know-how, while publishing partners contributed practical insights that helped shape market-ready solutions. AFE has already achieved remarkable results. “The project’s greatest achievement is the successful inclusion of several low-resource languages, such as Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Croatian and Lithuanian,” Raudys says. Previously, these languages were almost entirely absent from the audiobook market. The technology creates new business opportunities for publishers and gives listeners access to a broader range of literature in formats and languages they can enjoy. As well as low-resource languages, AFE covered languages with significant resources, such as Russian, French and Spanish; at the other end of the scale, it also focused on certain dialects.
New voices for greater diversity
Developing the system was not without its difficulties. “The main technical challenge was bringing advanced AI systems to languages with little digital data,” Raudys explains. The team overcame this by using stressed text, hiring native speakers for feedback and applying linguistic research. “AFE addressed the artistic demand for natural, expressive narration by directly training the AI models with purposely expressive speech data,” he adds. Looking ahead, AFE promises to transform audiobook accessibility and inclusivity. “This AI-based method cuts production costs by nearly 60 % and reduces production time to as little as one hour, eliminating costly expenses like narration and recording,” Raudys notes. It also benefits visually impaired listeners, supports small publishers and helps innovative SMEs across Europe. By combining AI and creativity, AFE is bringing new voices to underserved languages and shaping a more inclusive digital and cultural landscape. “AFE shall contribute towards a level playing field among diverse European languages,” says Raudys. The project demonstrates how technology can empower creativity, preserve linguistic diversity and expand access to literature for everyone. Following the project’s completion, AAI Labs aims to further refine and scale the AFE platform, expand support to additional low-resource languages and dialects, and bring the technology to market through partnerships with publishers and content platforms. With growing global demand for audiobooks and accessible digital content, the solution has strong commercial potential to open new markets while supporting linguistic diversity worldwide. The consortium brought together AAI Labs, Bulaja Naklada and Quickfox Publishing, and was co-funded by Horizon Europe, the Research Council of Lithuania (LMT), the Croatian Agency for SMEs and Investments (HAMAG-BICRO), as well as by South Africa’s Department for Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI).