Can AI really make YouTube multilingual?
Matt V
December 12, 2024
YOUTUBE
YouTube has rolled out its AI-powered auto-dubbing feature to “hundreds of thousands” of channels in its Partner Program.
This update is focused on creators making knowledge and informational content, with plans to include other types of videos soon.
The feature automatically translates and dubs videos into multiple languages, helping creators reach a wider audience.
Although still a work in progress, YouTube is improving the technology to make the dubs more accurate and natural over time.
How it works:
Videos in English are dubbed into French, German, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Indonesian, Japanese, and Portuguese.
Videos in these languages are dubbed only into English.
AI dubs are created when videos are uploaded. Creators can preview them and choose to unpublish or delete if needed.
From English to everywhere
YouTube admits that the dubs aren’t perfect yet.
They may lack natural tone and accuracy in translation, but updates are planned to improve how they reflect tone, emotion, and the original speaker’s style.
First tested in June 2023 with “hundreds” of creators, this feature is part of YouTube’s effort to make content more accessible across languages and regions.
This tech is new, but so is my patience for bad dubs.