You may be speaking in English, but to your colleague in Paris tuning into the Microsoft Teams meeting, you’ll sound like you’re talking in French.
Microsoft is currently testing a new Interpreter AI feature that clones your voice and converts it to another language in real-time. The result is a voice that sounds “just like you in a different language,” according to the company. The translating program will be previewed early next year with up to nine languages, including Italian, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, French, English, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. Only accounts with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license will be able to access Interpreter, per The Washington Post.
Microsoft’s AI business is booming. CEO Satya Nadella said on an earnings call last month that Microsoft’s AI division “is on track to surpass an annual revenue run rate of $10 billion next quarter” and become “the fastest business in our history to reach this milestone.”
Microsoft Interpreter in Action
In one demo video, Interpreter translates from Spanish to English in real-time in a Teams meeting, changing what the listener hears while maintaining the characteristics of the speaker’s voice.
In another demo, Interpreter does the same thing from English to Korean.
here’s how the Microsoft Teams interpreter feature works to make it sound like you’re speaking in a foreign language on calls https://t.co/92al0jkG9u pic.twitter.com/B9zMLdFlBd
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) November 19, 2024
Microsoft reassures users that it will not store their biometric information and will only allow voice simulation with their consent.
The Pros and Cons of Voice Cloning
Voice cloning technology is useful for more than just real-time interpretation. In July, AI startup ElevenLabs introduced an app that contained the cloned voices of Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds, and Sir Laurence Olivier. Users could tap into these voices to narrate any book, document, or file they uploaded.
There is a downside to the technology, though: it makes scams all the more personal. One AI cloning scheme copies someone’s voice from just three seconds of audio, like a video posted to social media. After cloning the voice, the fraudsters cold-call the victim’s friends and family to obtain money.
Related: Rising AI Threat Sounds Like Your Loved One on the Phone — But It’s Not Really Them
Some AI companies have held back from releasing sophisticated voice cloning technology because it could be used for the wrong purposes. In April, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI announced a Voice Engine AI generator that it said could realistically mimic someone’s voice from 15 seconds of audio — but decided not to broadly release it because of “the potential for synthetic voice misuse.”
