AI technology, especially AI voice technology, has developed rapidly in recent years, and with rapid growth comes divergent opinions. Latest IPSOS AI Monitor report 2024¹ asserts that globally, we are confused – both nervous and excited about AI products and services.

In this Podcastle report, we surveyed 1,000 Americans to find out current attitudes toward AI and AI voice technology, such as AI voice cloning, and how we want to shape this exciting industry to ensure that this powerful technology is put to good use.

From the benefits of AI to its negative impacts, and the need for widespread education, we at Podcastle want to champion the safe use of AI voice technology now and in the future.

Key findings:

— We don’t know the difference between AI and humans – 2 out of 3 incorrectly guess that human voice is AI

— Americans are divided – 26% are wary of AI voice technology, while 24% are supportive

— 81% of Americans are concerned about the future impact of AI voice cloning

— 64% want AI education introduced into American school curricula

— Americans believe that the main benefit of AI voice technology is increased accessibility (60%), while the biggest threat is manipulation and fraud (69%).

— More than half of Americans would be happy to listen to a podcast if the host was created by AI

Can You Tell The Difference?

Just to test it, we recorded the same sentence spoken by a human and an AI voice clone. Let’s see if you can spot the difference, cast your vote in the poll below! (If you want to check if you’re right, the answer is near the bottom of this page.)

It turns out we’re pretty confused about how we feel about AI voice technology in 2024, with a mix of positive, neutral and negative expressions used to describe today’s attitudes.

The top five words used to describe attitudes toward AI voice technology were: cautious (26%), supportive (24%), neutral (15%), enthusiastic (14%), and concerned (12%).

This reflects the findings of the IPSOS AI Monitor 2024 report, but there are differences between generations that need to be taken into account.

Baby Boomers (29%), Gen Z (28%), and Gen X (26%) are wary of AI voice technology, while more than a quarter (27%) of Millennials support it.

Increased accessibility was highlighted as the biggest benefit of AI voice practices, while manipulation and fraud were seen as the number one potential problem. New developments in AI voice technology have brought impressive progress in supporting accessibility. Recent cases involve the use of AI voice devices as a communication method for people suffering from illnesses and injuries that impact their ability to speak.².

The rise in AI-related fraud is deeply concerning. There was a 3,000% increase in deep fraud specific fraud cases from 2022 to 2023³shows that our greatest concerns about AI are justified. It is clear that we need to create stricter usage guidelines to protect user safety and prevent abuse.

Arto Yeritsyan, CEO & Founder of Podcastle commented:

“At Podcastle, our main goal is to champion the use of AI voice technology to enhance user creativity safely and responsibly. We are committed to creating advanced AI-based tools that increase productivity and keep all our users safe.

“By balancing innovation and responsibility, we aim to create a platform where you can confidently explore the benefits of AI and find tools to support your creative journey.”

Despite concerns about the potential for misuse and manipulation of AI voice technology, six in 10 Americans say they have never mistaken voice cloning software for a human voice.

We tested this by asking survey respondents to identify whether a sound clip was recorded by a human or AI—and 63% answered incorrectly. More Millennials than any other generation incorrectly identified human voice clips as AI, while Baby Boomers were the best human voice vs. AI identifiers, with more than two-fifths giving the correct answer.

Thinking about how you can leverage AI voice technology for your podcast? More than half of American survey respondents said they would enjoy listening to a podcast hosted by AI-generated voices.

Some generations aren’t big fans of podcasts that are 100% produced by AI. Nearly two-thirds of Gen Z said they would not listen to a podcast hosted by an AI, while 61% of Gen

About safely creating AI voice clones for your podcast, commented Arto:

“At Podcastle, we have strong safeguards in place to ensure ethical use, such as requiring users to submit live voice recordings.”

“While this process creates obstacles in the creator experience, we strongly believe that it is a necessary sacrifice to advocate for the responsible use and development of Generative AI technologies.”

“Text-to-speech technology that uses AI voice allows content creators to produce audio content without speaking, and voice cloning technology makes it much more efficient. However, companies developing this technology must prioritize safety and consider potential misuse, such as phishing and deep fakes.”

Attitudes toward AI voice technology are currently divided, and as we look to the future, concern is the leading feeling, according to more than four-fifths of Americans (81%). Gen X is the most worried generation (85%), and Baby Boomers are the least worried generation (81%).

To help create a more knowledgeable generation, nearly two-thirds of Americans want AI education included in school curricula. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of the Baby Boomer generation agree with this, more than any other generation. Generation Z and Generation X are the groups most opposed to this, with almost half (47%) saying they do not want AI education included in the curriculum.

Until AI education is provided nationally, the primary motivation for learning how to use AI voice technology is personal interest (21%), followed by professional advancement (19%). Younger generations, Gen Z (26%) and Millennials (22%) agree that they want to learn how to use AI voice platforms to help career development.

According to PwC’s 2024 AI Jobs Barometer⁴knowledge of AI is beneficial for professional advancement. Their research revealed that the number of AI specialist jobs is growing 3.5 times faster than all jobs – and 25% of jobs requiring AI specialist skills have wage premiums of up to 25% in some markets.

Could we see AI education introduced into American school curricula in the near future? Currently, guidance on using AI for teaching is only offered in thirteen states5, and a quarter of public K-12 teachers say that using AI tools for teaching does more harm than good.⁶. However, we have not seen any teaching about safe practices for AI technology.

The top five states supporting implementing AI education into school curricula are Maine (100%), New Mexico (100% ‘Yes’), South Dakota (100% ‘Yes’), Connecticut (83% ‘Yes’), and Mississippi (83% ‘Yes’).

Only three states currently oppose integrating AI education into school curricula: Vermont (100% ‘No’), Louisiana (83% ‘No’), and West Virginia (60% ‘No’).

With widespread support for AI education, it could become a core aspect of curricula across America sooner than we think.

Create Your AI Voice Clone with Podcastle
If you want to create your own voice clones, look no further! Our in-depth AI voice cloning process will allow you to turn text into speech with impressive accuracy, unleashing your creativity while prioritizing and protecting your safety.

Go to the AI ​​Voice Cloning page to get started. You’ll start by recording a selection of voice samples for the AI ​​system to develop a complete voice clone, including changes in pitch and nuance.

You’ll learn 70 phrases and sentences to allow the AI ​​to recognize your voice and ensure the final voice clone is nearly identical to you, even when creating new words or expressions.

This thorough process prioritizes the security of your data and privacy. Your voice samples and personal information are kept confidential during the voice cloning process.

Once your voice clone is created, you can start with text-to-speech audio creation to save hours of production time! The opportunities are endless, whether you’re recording a podcast with an AI voice, narrating an audiobook, or even developing a charming game character.

Check out our full suite of AI-powered tools and learn more about Podcastle’s AI voice generator.

---

Want to know which recordings are human and which are AI?

– Voice 1: A.I
– Voice 2: Man

---

Source

1 IPSOS AI 2024 Monitor
2 AP News
3 Statesmen
PwC’s 4 AI Job Barometers for 2024
5 KRP
6 Pew Research Center

Methodology
Podcastle surveyed 1,000 Americans to understand attitudes toward AI voice technology in 2024 and concerns for the future. The survey uses multiple-choice and open-text responses, with demographic segmentation including age, generation, and geographic location. Text analysis is used to summarize open questions, providing insight into common themes or threads. It is important to remember that survey data is self-reported data, so it can introduce bias or differences between reported behavior and actual behavior, and has limitations related to self-reporting.

To reveal which states are for, against, or neutral regarding the introduction of AI education in school curricula, states with more than 50% of respondents answering ‘yes’ are considered ‘favorable,’ states with a 50/50 split are considered ‘neutral,’ and states where more than 50% of respondents answered ‘no’ were considered ‘opposed’.

States marked with an asterisk do not have sufficient data, so findings from these states are not included in the map to prevent data bias.

Fair Use Statement
Now that you have an overview of attitudes and usage of AI voice technology in 2024 as well as insights into the future of AI voice technology, feel free to share this data.

We ask that you do so for non-commercial use and provide links to these original research pages so that researchers are properly credited.