AI Voice
Text-to-Speech (TTS)
Last updated
AI technology that converts written text into spoken audio, with control over voice, pace, emphasis and emotion.
Full definition
Text-to-speech (TTS) is the conversion of written text into natural-sounding spoken audio using neural network models trained on hundreds of hours of human voice recordings. The 2026 state of the art handles emotional pacing, micro-pauses, breath patterns and language-specific intonation in ways indistinguishable from human recording in blind tests. Major TTS platforms (ElevenLabs, Murf, PlayHT) differ on voice quality (ElevenLabs leads on narrative), latency (PlayHT leads with sub-300ms streaming for real-time use cases), and pricing model (character-based vs hour-pool).
Examples
- ·Using ElevenLabs to generate a podcast intro from a typed script.
- ·Embedding PlayHT TTS in a voice agent for real-time conversational AI responses.
- ·Murf generating a 3-minute corporate explainer voiceover from typed text.