A new generation of translation tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) is breaking down language barriers and transforming how businesses communicate across borders and cultures, experts say.
Whereas previous services like Google Translate often produced gibberish or unnatural results, these new AI solutions leverage advanced machine learning to capture nuance and context.
AI video creation platform D-ID embodies this trend with its recently released AI video translation technology: the tool goes beyond simple translation to replicate the speaker's voice and adjust lip movements to match translated words in 30 languages.
“AI-powered translation tools are revolutionizing international business negotiations by breaking down language barriers and enabling real-time communication across cultures,” Brian Gavin, co-founder of Wally, a platform focused on digital accessibility, told PYMNTS.
Breaking new ground in AI translation
D-ID's video translation generates multilingual videos by replicating a speaker's voice and adjusting lip movements in a single upload. The tool aims to make video translation more accessible by reducing costs and time, allowing creators to reach a wider audience. It is currently free for D-ID subscribers and supports multiple languages including Arabic, Chinese, and French.
“As video content becomes more central to digital communication, engaging with multilingual audiences has never been more important,” D-ID co-founder and CEO Gil Perry said in a news release. “D-ID Video Translate is a game changer for anyone who wants to create compelling, accessible video content for a global audience without incurring significant costs, redefining how we communicate around the world.”
The technology goes beyond simple text translation: Raghu Ravinuttala, CEO and co-founder of AI translation company yellow.ai, told PYMNTS: “Recent advances in dynamic AI agents powered by conversational AI have expanded their linguistic capabilities. Voice AI can detect and respond to multiple languages, and generative AI chatbots can have nuanced, multilingual conversations, enabling human-like conversations with empathy and clarity.”
These advances have the potential to streamline operations and reduce costs for multinational companies. Global call centers, which are often hampered by language mismatches, will be a major beneficiary. “When pricing or delivery issues arise, support needs to work closely with finance and local logistics teams to resolve the issue immediately. But what happens when language barriers prevent collaboration between the teams?” says Ravinutala.
The impact goes beyond customer service. Gavin believes AI translation will revolutionize hiring practices: “AI translation allows businesses to tap into a global workforce without language limitations, allowing them to hire the best talent regardless of their linguistic background. This not only increases the diversity of the workforce, but also fosters a more inclusive and collaborative environment, allowing diverse perspectives to thrive and contribute to innovation on a global scale.”
This shift can be especially transformative for blue-collar workers. “By implementing solutions with strong multilingual capabilities, blue-collar workers can seamlessly communicate and engage in their preferred language. This transformation is especially evident among our clients across various sectors, especially utilities and manufacturing,” says Ravinutara.
In customer service, Gavin says these technologies “not only ensure customers around the world receive timely and accurate support, but also help organizations serve a more diverse customer base and foster trust and loyalty on a global scale.”
There is still work to be done
But challenges remain: AI translation still struggles to understand the nuances and context of complex languages, and ethical concerns remain over the potential for misleading content to be created, especially as technology advances to manipulate audio and video.
There's also an element of unpredictability: users have reported instances of ChatGPT suddenly switching to Welsh when interacting with users in the UK, a strange phenomenon that indicates the technology is still in development.
Despite these obstacles, the market is growing: Research firm MarketsandMarkets predicts that the global natural language processing market, which includes translation technology, will surge to $35.1 billion by 2026, up from $11.6 billion in 2020.
As AI translation tools mature, they promise to remap global commerce. These technologies may also help businesses looking to expand internationally bridge language barriers more effectively than ever before.
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Read more: AI, AI translation, AI video translation, artificial intelligence, Brian Gavin, D-ID, D-ID video translation, GenAI, generative AI, Gil Perry, news, PYMNTS News, Raghu Ravinutala, voice cloning, Wally, yellow.ai
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