Audible Tests AI for Interactive Audiobooks

Audible, a subsidiary of Amazon, is launching three AI features for its audiobooks in beta. Character Guide is already active on certain titles, while Interactive Story and Visual Explorer are set to roll out gradually. The deployment will be limited to the United States and the United Kingdom.

A Beta with a Limited Scope and Uncertainties

Audible's new AI features are currently in beta testing and will initially be available only to customers in the United States and the United Kingdom. During a check on an Android phone, the interactive content Renfield on the Run was not yet accessible in Dracula. Audible did not specify who oversees the Interactive Story feature for works by deceased authors like Bram Stoker. Rachel Ghiazza, Audible's content director, presents these innovations as a further step in nearly 30 years of audio storytelling development by the company.

What is Available Now in the App

Character Guide allows users to track in real-time the character who is speaking and access an information sheet about the narrator directly from the player page. This feature is already offered for George Orwell's 1984 and is included in Dracula, a new Audible Original launched on Thursday. This option is also set to be integrated into Exoplanet, an upcoming original audiobook written by Benjamin Percy and produced by Andy Weir, the author of Project Hail Mary. Audible plans to expand Character Guide so that listeners can converse with the guide and ask questions throughout the story.

What’s Coming: Conversations with Characters and Visual Exploration

Audible has launched three AI-powered features to enhance the listening experience: interacting with stories, exploring character guides, and accessing bonus content about the locations mentioned in the works. Interactive Story relies on generative AI and is expected to allow, for example, interaction with Renfield, a character from Dracula, in a new interactive story. Audible clarifies that the interactivity is overseen by creators and publishers to remain true to the events of the book, with a flow where the character first addresses the listener, assigns them a role and stakes, and then reacts in real-time to their responses. Visual Explorer, which has not yet launched, is expected to provide images and visual context about key locations and moments in the plot. These developments are taking place within Audible, the streaming service owned by Amazon, which plans to open direct interaction with fictional characters.