Amazon wants Alexa to translate other languages AS THEY’RE SPOKEN
Star Trek-style real-time language translation could be just around the corner thanks to Amazon's Echo speakers, which currently cost as little as £50
AMAZON wants to turn Alexa into a real-time language translator, apparently.
A new report suggests that the voice-controlled virtual assistant could one day let people speak in other languages, all thanks to the power of artificial intelligence.
According to Yahoo News, several sources "familiar with the matter" have Amazon's plans to turn Alexa into an expert linguist.
It means that people who own Alexa devices – like Amazon Echo speakers – might not need to learn new languages in the future.
First, the report says, we'll begin to see Alexa get better at translating language in a better way.
At the moment, it can only translate simple words and short phrases in a few major languages, like Spanish, German, French, and Italian.
But Amazon is "seriously exploring" a much brighter future of Alexa-powered translation.
"If a person from the US, who only speaks English, attends a wedding in Tokyo and doesn't speak Japanese, Alexa would be able to help that person hold a conversation and doesn't speak Japanese," the report reads.
"Alexa would have an understanding of the Japanese culture, which is generally more formal and conservative than America culture, and would incorporate its knowledge into translations."
Apparently, the end goal is "real-time" translation and the creation of a Star Trek-style super computer.
But Amazon isn't the only company working on this sort of technology.
Last year, Google debuted the Pixel Buds, which – using the Google Assistant AI – claimed to translate up to 40 languages spoken in real-time.
However, there's still a lot of room for improvement with the Pixel Buds.
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Samsung's Bixby AI can perform a similar feat, but it only works with images of foreign-language text – by pointing your phone camera at a sign or menu – rather than the spoken word.
Do you think machines will eventually be able to translate languages in real-time? Let us know in the comments.
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