Jerry Garcia may be gone, but he’s not forgotten: A new app will now read your email or any other text in his voice.
In a deal with the Garcia Estate, AI developer ElevenLabs recently added the legendary Grateful Dead frontman to its “Iconic Voice Project” lineup.
Part e-reader, part audiobook streaming platform, the ElevenReader mobile app was designed as a way for people to listen to books, articles, PDFs, and even emails in the voice of a historical figure.
Other notable voices in the app include “Rebel Without a Cause” star James Dean, “The Wizard of Oz” star Judy Garland, “True Grit” star John Wayne, and “Smokey and the Bandit” star Burt Reynolds.
Deadheads were impressed with the likeness of Jerry’s voice double. “I’ve heard a snippet of AI Jerry, and it does sound like him,” author and historian Dennis McNally told Decrypt.
“I can’t imagine what he’d say about it,” he added. “This is the 21st century, and he didn’t live to see it, darn it.” Garcia died in 1995 at the age of 53.
McNally, who also worked as a publicist for the Grateful Dead, is the author of “A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead,” as well as the editor of “Jerry on Jerry: The Unpublished Jerry Garcia Interviews.”
ElevenLabs said the ElevenReader can also help individuals with visual impairments or learning disabilities.
ElevenLabs is part of a growing list of companies focused on creating realistic AI voices both in the US and internationally.
Last year, leading up to the launch of the Phantom Liberty expansion for Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red collaborated with Ukraine-based voice AI tool developer Respeecher to recreate the voice of Polish actor Miłogost "Miłek" Reczek, who passed away in 2021.
Respeecher later partnered with Calm to bring the vocal styling of “It’s a Wonderful Life” star Jimmy Stewart to the app in December. In September, Google launched its AI-powered NotebookLM, which allows users to turn articles and videos into audio podcasts with the click of a button.
While the idea of conversing with historical figures is novel, mental health experts caution that it may foster unrealistic expectations.
“Users may form attachments to these AI recreations that can lead to unrealistic expectations in real-life relationships or create difficulty processing actual emotions.
It could also skew perceptions of historical figures, as users might project their "thoughts and feelings onto these AI avatars,” Sandra Kushnir, CEO of LA-based Meridian Counseling, told Decrypt.
“For some, particularly those experiencing loneliness or depression, repeated reliance on AI interactions could diminish real-life social skills or create avoidance of genuine interpersonal connections,” Kushnir added.
ElevenLabs Head of Partnerships Dustin Blank said that the re-creation of Garcia’s voice, added to the AI platform last week, will not be used to generate music or provide a downloadable voice that can be used elsewhere.
“The purpose of these iconic voices is to add a deeper and new level of immersive experience to listening and reading the content,” Blank told Decrypt, emphasizing that Garcia’s voice will only be available within the ElevenReader app. “It's a different kind of experience that we're doing with these iconic voices that hopefully our users enjoy.”
Blank said ElevenLabs worked closely with the Garcia Estate, using archival interviews and audio materials to get Garcia's voice as close to the real thing as possible. However, Blank reiterated that this technology is not meant to replace the real Jerry Garcia.
“At the end of the day, this is an AI narrator—a representation of Jerry’s voice, not the man himself,” Blank said. That would have been a cool trick.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair and Josh Quittner