Spotify Is Testing AI-Powered Podcast Language Translation — Which Mimics the Podcaster’s Own Voice
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital Editor Hablas robot? Spotify is testing out a way for podcasters to reach listeners in different languages, using artificial-intelligence technology that emulates the podcaster’s own voice.
As part of the pilot, Spotify worked with a “select group” of podcasters — Dax Shepard and Monica Padman (“Armchair Expert”), Lex Fridman, Steven Bartlett (“The Diary of a CEO”) and The Ringer’s Bill Simmons — to generate AI-powered voice translations in other languages including Spanish, French and German for a few episodes. (Hear examples of AI-generated translations into Spanish, below.) Other shows Spotify expects to include in the voice-translation test include Dax Shepard’s “eff won with DRS,” “The Rewatchables” from Spotify’s The Ringer and Trevor Noah’s new original podcast, slated to launch later this year.
The Spotify-developed tool uses OpenAI’s recently released voice-generation technology to match the original speaker’s style.
That, according to Spotify, results in a “more authentic listening experience” that sounds “more personal and natural than traditional dubbing.” Voice-translated episodes from the creators in Spotify’s pilot will be available worldwide on the platform.
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