SEOUL: Samsung Electronics plans to roll out a real-time call translation service using AI technology next year, the company told AFP on Friday (Nov 10), making language translation as easy as “turning on subtitles”. He claimed to be able to converse beyond the limits.
Samsung is among the tech companies plowing billions of dollars into the global artificial intelligence gold rush, which has so far introduced chatbots that mimic human voices and software that can generate lifelike images and videos. are doing.
The world’s largest smartphone maker has announced that a new real-time translation feature will be included in the new Galaxy flagship model when it launches early next year.
A company spokesperson told AFP that this will enable “real-time voice and text translation while callers are on the phone,” adding that the number of languages supported is undetermined.
The new model uses “on-device AI technology,” so it is possible to translate even if the person on the other end of the call is using a non-Samsung smartphone.
Using this feature to talk to someone in a foreign language is “as easy as turning on subtitles” on a streaming show, and your private conversations will be safely locked away on your phone, Samsung said in a press release. Ta.
Analysts said it would be a “significant achievement” and a sign of real technological progress if Samsung’s AI could provide real-time translation of voice calls, but questioned how it would work. did.
“The entire process for AI to understand the original content, translate it into a foreign language, and convey it to the listener takes at least three to four seconds,” said Lee Wong-kang, president of AI-based translation startup XL8’s. Korean operation.
“I would like to actually use it and see how good it is, including whether the translated content is uttered by the AI voice or the original voice.”
AI sprawl
The announcement comes as the South Korean company rushes to develop a generative AI model called Samsung Gauss, which is offered in three areas: language, code, and images, and is currently in use among its staff.
The company plans to incorporate AI systems into a wide range of its products in the near future, but declined to say when or which models.
Samsung’s Language AI can assist with everything from composing emails to summarizing documents, while Code AI helps developers “write code easily and quickly,” the company said.
It added that Samsung’s image AI can not only convert low-resolution images to high resolution, but also generate and edit images.
Choi Won-jun, Samsung’s head of smartphone research and development, said in a statement that the built-in generative AI “will forever change the way we think about mobile phones.”
While AI companies celebrate the technology’s potential to drive major advances in science, medicine and public services, governments and watchdogs are sounding the alarm about data privacy and disinformation.
US President Joe Biden last month issued an executive order on regulating AI, the latest in a series of government actions aimed at curbing the technology’s potential dangers.
Samsung said in a statement Thursday that GalaxyAI runs on its devices and “private conversations never leave your phone.”
