🚨 AMAZON TO LAUNCH AI-DUBBED CONTENT 🚨

Amazon has announced its use of AI-powered dubbing starting March 5th, 2025, aimed at enhancing content localization,the process of adapting a product for a specific audience by translating language, dubbing, adding subtitles, and adjusting cultural references to make it relevant, for a global audience. The initiative will initially focus on Spanish-language productions, allowing them to be dubbed into English and Latin American Spanish.

Some of the first titles to benefit from this AI dubbing include:

🎬 El Cid: La Leyenda
🎬 Mi Mamá Lora
🎬 Long Lost

This move is designed to amplify the reach of regional content and make these films and series available to a wider audience, particularly in markets that might not otherwise receive traditional dubbing investments.

But what does this mean for professional voice actors?

If AI dubbing gains traction, it could bring about significant changes for voice actors. While AI voices are still developing and may sound robotic or flat to experienced ears, technology is advancing rapidly. Companies like Eleven Labs are pouring resources into improving synthetic voice delivery to make it more nuanced and emotionally expressive.

What could the future hold?

• Less work for entry-level and mid-tier voice actors in low-budget productions.
• A rise in demand for «voice consultants» to help AI voices sound more natural and expressive.
• A divide in content quality, where big-budget projects still opt for human dubbing, while smaller releases rely on AI to reduce costs.

The shift is already visible in audience preferences. A HarrisX Survey from May 2024 revealed that 47% of global viewers prefer content dubbed in their native language, with AI dubbing offering faster turnaround and lower costs—two things platforms with large libraries, like Amazon, are eager to leverage.

Survey Data on AI Dubbing Reception:

• Dubbed in my native language and perfectly lip-synced
  • More likely: 47%
  • Indifferent: 27%
  • Less likely: 26%
• Dubbed in my native language using AI voices that sound exactly like the original actors’ voices
  • More likely: 43%
  • Indifferent: 29%
  • Less likely: 29%
• Dubbed in my native language using new synthetic AI voices
  • More likely: 34%
  • Indifferent: 29%
  • Less likely: 37%
• Likelihood of watching content dubbed with AI voices
  • Very likely: 19%
  • Somewhat likely: 26%
  • Indifferent: 24%
  • Somewhat unlikely: 15%
  • Very unlikely: 16%

How likely is mass adoption?

In the short term, traditional dubbing will likely coexist with AI dubbing, especially in high-quality, high-budget markets. However, as AI improves over the next 2-5 years, it could become the primary method for localizing smaller releases and fast turnaround projects.

Voice actors will need to adapt by focusing on high-end projects or integrating into the AI workflow, potentially reshaping their role in the industry.

🔗 Curious about the tools shaping this future?
Check out Eleven Labs here: Eleven Labs Dubbing Studio

💬 Join the conversation: Is AI dubbing a threat, an opportunity, or the next big hybrid model for media localization?