YouTube has expanded its AI-powered auto-dubbing to hundreds of thousands of channels in the YouTube Partner Program that focus on knowledge and information. The platform plans to introduce this feature to other types of content soon, reports The Verge.
The type of dubs created depends on the language of the original video. If the video is in English, it will be translated into French, German, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Indonesian, Japanese, and Portuguese. If the original video is in any of those languages, YouTube will only produce an English dub.
For channels that have access to this feature, AI-generated dubbed videos are created automatically when the original video is uploaded. However, creators have the option to preview these dubs before they are published. According to a support document, YouTube also allows creators to unpublish or delete the dubbed videos if needed.
The dubs are not very natural-sounding now, but YouTube promises they will get better at emulating “tone, emotion, and even the ambiance of the surroundings” with later updates.
Here’s an English dub example of a French video about making potatoes au gratin:
However, YouTube cautions that “this technology is still pretty new, and it won’t always be perfect.” The company says it’s “working hard to make it as accurate as possible, but there might be times when the translation isn’t quite right or the dubbed voice doesn’t accurately represent the original speaker.”
YouTube initially announced its tests of auto-dubbing with “hundreds” of creators in June 2023.
