CELA is pleased to announce a new addition to our magazine offerings.  

As a pilot project a few of our popular magazines are now available as audio magazines, created using an AI voice.  With AI voice technology, we are able to offer readers access to a human-sounding audio magazine shortly after the magazine is published.  

Our goal with this pilot project is to determine if users enjoy AI voiced audio magazines and will use them. To do this, we are launching a survey which requests feedback on our magazines in general, and on the AI voiced magazines specifically. If you are interested in providing feedback our survey is available and open until September 21, 2026.  

Our plan is to run the pilot project for one year using 5 magazines: Canadian Living, AppleMagazine and Newsweek in English and Lire and Coup de Pouce in French. All of these magazines will continue to be available in text formats if you prefer not to use the AI voiced option.  We will also continue to offer our popular 11 human-narrated magazines.  

Our Executive Director is very interested in getting feedback on this new narration option. “We know how important human narration is to our users and that in some cases synthetic audio can be a deciding factor about whether or not users choose to read certain materials. The AI voiced narrations give us an option to improve the experience of users when human narration isn’t possible or effective. For magazines, especially news-based magazines, it’s important that users have timely access in order to stay informed and read the content when it is relevant. Our hope is that our users will engage with these magazines and provide us with honest feedback about the experience,” says Laurie Davidson. 

We anticipate that CELA users will have questions about this new option so we have put together a set of questions and answers about these AI voiced magazines.  

What does AI voiced audio mean?

AI (artificial intelligence) based production tools are used to create realistic human sounding audio versions of reading materials. In this pilot we are testing audio magazines. Unlike traditional synthetic narration which can sound like a computer voice, the AI voiced magazines sound remarkably human, providing a more realistic listening experience users may find more enjoyable than traditional synthetic audio.  

Do AI voiced magazines include the same content as traditionally produced magazines? 

AI voiced audio magazines include the full text of the magazines, but no advertisements. The process of using AI voices to record the audio does not create, amend or edit the content of the magazine in any way. While image descriptions are not included, image captions are included in AI voiced magazines, just as they are in the text magazines.  

What magazines are available?

The five magazines in the pilot include Canadian Living, AppleMagazine and Newsweek in English and Lire and Coup de Pouce in French. 

Please note that AppleMagazine and Newsweek both appear as one word in our catalogue. 

How can I read these magazines?

AI voiced magazines are DAISY audio files and can be read in the same way you would access any other audio books or audio magazines, including in Dolphin EasyReader, on DAISY players, and Envoy Connect.  

Where do I find them on the CELA website? 

You can find a list of the AI voiced audio magazines on our Magazines page. In our catalogue you can search for the magazine title and filter the results using magazine, and DAISY audio options. Use the data added filter to narrow your results even further.  

You can subscribe to any magazine on the Magazine subscriptions page under My Account to receive new issues on your bookshelf as soon as they are available. 

Will CELA tell users when something in the collection is produced with AI or artificial intelligence? 

Yes. One of our commitments in our Collections policy is that CELA “will use AI production tools responsibly and work with producers to ensure transparency around any potential use of AI.”

To alert users that these are AI voiced magazines each edition includes the message “The audio for this magazine was created using AI-generated voice technology."/"L’enregistrement audio de ce magazine a été réalisé à l’aide d’une technologie de synthèse vocale basée sur l’IA."

Please see our Collections policy for our full AI policy statement.     

Has CELA considered the impacts of AI technology? 

The use of artificial intelligence is a complex topic and libraries like CELA are taking a thoughtful approach about when and how to use AI to offer benefits to users. For CELA users, AI production options can increase timely access to reading materials for people with print disabilities, a key priority for CELA.  

Why are you looking for feedback? 

As part of the pilot we will be asking for feedback from readers who have tested the AI voiced magazines, as well as feedback about our magazines in general. Our goal is to learn from our users whether this technology offers users an enhanced reading experience.  

The magazine survey is now available and will be open until September 21, 2026.