Amazon Alexa gets real-time translation functionality

[Polycount]

In brief: Amazon's virtual assistant, Alexa, is always improving, but it just received a major upgrade today. Right now, anyone with an Alexa-powered device can test out the AI's new "Live Translation" feature. As the name implies, this tool lets Alexa act as an interpreter for a pair of individuals who speak different languages.

All you have to do to activate Live Translation is "ask Alexa to initiate a translation session." Amazon didn't say exactly what keywords will trigger this feature, but we assume something like "Alexa, start translating" will probably do the trick.

For now, Live Translation works with six "language pairs," including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Hindi.

In Amazon's announcement post, it shows Live Translation working on an Echo Show, between an English speaker and a Spanish speaker. The device displays the original message -- or what it thinks the original message is -- and then a translated version below it; intended for the other party's eyes. On Echo devices without a screen, like the normal Echo or Echo Dot, Alexa will verbally translate each side's messages.

If you're curious about how this technology works, Amazon's Shirin Saleem and Roland Maas go into great detail about the topic in their announcement post. They describe how their AI model was trained, and how they taught it to determine when a user has finished speaking (versus a normal pause in conversation).

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87967-amazon-adds-real-time-translation-functionality-alexa.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

So basically: the “universal translator “ is already here.

All someone needs to do is put it in a hearing aid and we can make $Billions$

 

[redhat]

So we dont need many stuff with different languages, Alexa will translate it all for us to hear it in clear and clean English/
during the 2000s many people had wished to have such services especially that there were no good free translating services, but look where we are now. Companies develop such technology's to spy on you rather that the main goal of translating and here I am talking about many companies not only amazon

 

[No Longer Human]

If this works well, it's incredible. Only downside is it comes in an Amazon Alexa which I won't have in my home (along with any of its competitors).
@QuantumPhysics has the right idea. A standalone device that goes with you, real time translation talking to people who speak a foreign language.

 

[Aux101]

Just tried it, and it works perfectly on first tries, didn't have to repeat.