Chances are you’ll be talking in English, however to your colleague in Paris tuning into the Microsoft Groups assembly, you may sound such as you’re speaking in French.
Microsoft is at the moment testing a brand new Interpreter AI function that clones your voice and converts it to a different language in real-time. The result’s a voice that sounds “similar to you in a special language,” according to the company. The translating program might be previewed early subsequent yr with as much as 9 languages, together with Italian, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, French, English, Mandarin Chinese language, and Spanish. Solely accounts with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license will have the ability to entry Interpreter, per The Washington Post.
Associated: Microsoft Is on Track to Hit a Major Milestone, the ‘Fastest Business in Our History,’ According to Its CEO
Microsoft’s AI enterprise is booming. CEO Satya Nadella said on an earnings call last month that Microsoft’s AI division “is on observe to surpass an annual income run charge of $10 billion subsequent quarter” and develop into “the quickest enterprise in our historical past to succeed in this milestone.”
Microsoft Interpreter in Motion
In a single demo video, Interpreter interprets from Spanish to English in real-time in a Groups assembly, altering what the listener hears whereas sustaining the traits of the speaker’s voice.
In one other demo, Interpreter does the identical factor from English to Korean.
here is how the Microsoft Groups interpreter function works to make it sound such as you’re talking in a international language on calls https://t.co/92al0jkG9u pic.twitter.com/B9zMLdFlBd
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) November 19, 2024
Microsoft reassures users that it’ll not retailer their biometric data and can solely enable voice simulation with their consent.
The Professionals and Cons of Voice Cloning
Voice cloning expertise is beneficial for extra than simply real-time interpretation. In July, AI startup ElevenLabs introduced an app that contained the cloned voices of Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds, and Sir Laurence Olivier. Customers might faucet into these voices to relate any e-book, doc, or file they uploaded.
There’s a draw back to the expertise, although: it makes scams all of the extra private. One AI cloning scheme copies somebody’s voice from simply three seconds of audio, like a video posted to social media. After cloning the voice, the fraudsters cold-call the sufferer’s family and friends to acquire cash.
Associated: Rising AI Threat Sounds Like Your Loved One on the Phone — But It’s Not Really Them
Some AI corporations have held again from releasing refined voice cloning expertise as a result of it could possibly be used for the unsuitable functions. In April, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI announced a Voice Engine AI generator that it stated might realistically mimic somebody’s voice from 15 seconds of audio — however determined to not broadly launch it due to “the potential for artificial voice misuse.”
