For a few years now, AI has been reshaping how audiovisual content is localized and used.
From AI-automated subtitling and captioning to AI dubbing and advancements in sign language, AI-generated audio description, and many other services, audiovisual translation (AVT) presents both exciting opportunities and challenges for language service providers (LSPs).
Data from the 2024 Slator Pro Guide: Audiovisual Translation shows that most established providers of AVT services already use AI tools in their workflow or are considering their implementation in the short to medium term.
In fact, over a third of LSPs surveyed by Slator now offer AI voiceover and subtitling services, with a quarter providing AI dubbing. This trend is driven partly by end clients actively asking for more efficient and scalable solutions.
As Ofir Krakowski, Co-Founder and CEO of Deepdub, aptly pointed out during a SlatorPod episode, we live in an age dominated by audiovisual content.
Slator Pro Guide: Audiovisual Translation
The Slator Pro Guide: Audiovisual Translation is a concise guide to audiovisual translation, including dubbing, subtitling, access services, AI dubbing, AI captions, and more.
The AI-enabled AVT market can be broadly divided into two categories: enterprise-grade platforms that cater to large organizations with complex needs, and language AI start-ups that often target individual content creators and focus on specific use cases, such as short-form videos.
AI subtitling and dubbing are making it cheaper and easier for companies of all sizes and backgrounds to localize their growing AV content. Advances in voice AI, for example, and the availability of powerful large language models (LLMs) have also led to more natural and expressive synthetic voices.
This technology offers a compelling alternative to traditional subtitling, captioning, and dubbing, especially for content where speed and cost-efficiency are paramount (unlike major cinematic productions, where film industry standards and actor unions requirements still apply).
Another example is the growing use of AI in generating captions and subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH), with well-established improvements in speech recognition models like OpenAI‘s Whisper, that have further accelerated growth in this area.
Diversification Strategies with AI
With AI language technology available for all budgets, basically any company can potentially localize audiovisual content that until recently was considered too expensive or time-consuming to offer in multiple languages.
LSPs can adopt different strategies to integrate AI into their services, including AVT. There is, for instance, the option to outsource or partner with technology providers. It is also not unusual to find LSPs looking into acquiring language AI tech companies to gain a competitive edge.
Savvy language companies can take advantage of widespread AI availability and have the upper hand by leveraging their expertise in use cases, content type variations, and changing client expectations.
The key lies in the execution, ensuring that the choices made around partnering for, outsourcing, or developing AI technologies in-house, and around implementation, can indeed guarantee efficiency and scalability, both internally and for end clients.
To learn more about how to take advantage of AI in AVT, get your copy of the Slator Pro Guide: Audiovisual Translation today.
