Text to speech vs human reader.
Which is easier to consume content?
Here are pros and cons of both method when it comes to consuming content online.
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Pros and Cons of Text-to-Speech over human readers
One benefit of TTS technology is that it allows users to consume written content without having to physically read it themselves. It's all about effortlessly consume information at a faster rate.
Pros
- Effortless - With text-to-speech, users can listen to content while they are engaged in other activities, such as cooking, exercising, or driving, allowing them to consume content hands-free.
- Faster Document Consumption - Let text to speech read articles and EBooks on your computer
- Increased accessibility - Text-to-speech technology allows individuals who have difficulty reading or who are visually impaired to consume the content without spending brain power trying to sound out the words
- Improved reading speed and comprehension - Text-to-speech technology can be set to read at a faster pace than normal speech, which can help users to read faster and improve their reading comprehension.
- Language learning - User can learn a new language by listening to the text in that language, which can improve their pronunciation and comprehension
Cons
- Limited naturalness and expressiveness of speech - Text-to-speech technology has improved, but it still can't match the naturalness and expressiveness of human speech. Some users may find the computer-generated voice to be robotic and monotone, which can make it difficult to focus on the content.
- Limited control over speaking style - users have limited control over the speaking style, such as the speed and pitch of the voice. This can make it difficult for users to customize the listening experience to their preference
- Limited language support - English has the most amount of TTS support, but other languages still don't have high quality speech synthesis
- Errors - There are strange pauses or intonation
- No Contextual Understanding - Some intonations, sarcasm, jokes and emotions may get lost in the text-to-speech conversion
Does text-to-speech help dyslexia?
Text-to-speech technology is frequently a crucial aid for individuals with dyslexia in improving reading abilities, understanding of written material, and overall literacy skills.
Is Text To Speech Good For studying
Text-to-speech technology has been found to improve pupils' concentration on the content, leading to better understanding and retention of the material, as well as increased self-esteem and motivation, according to studies listed on National Library of Medicine
One thing in particular that text to speech can do for language learners is to read things out loud for better clarity than listening to the words than reading it word by word.
Limitations of Text-to-Speech technology
However, TTS technology is not yet as good as a human reader. TTS might not be able to convey the intonation and emotions as well as a human reader can. It also might not be able to convey the details of the text as well as a human can.
Human reading
Human reading is considered to be superior to text-to-speech (TTS) in terms of tonality and emotion because of the unique nuances and inflections that a human reader can add to the text.
Pros
Delivers Tonality and Emotion - A person reading can convey emotions and tone through changes in pitch, volume, and pace, making reading more natural and engaging, and helping to convey intended meaning and emotion of the text effectively.
More Interactive - A human reader can adjust their reading style based on the audience, responding to reactions and making the text more engaging. TTS systems are not able to respond to their audience in this way.
Adds Interpretation - Reading for oneself allows one to give their own interpretation and create different meaning to the text, TTS eliminates reader's interpretation and creativity when it comes to meaning and tone.