YouTube constantly introduces changes to make it better for users speaking different languages. In June 2023, the video streaming giant announced that it was testing auto-dubbing with numerous creators. Now, YouTube is rolling out that feature to “hundreds of thousands of channels” enrolled in its Partner Program, allowing creators to automatically dub their videos.
YouTube’s new AI-powered feature now allows creators to upload automatically dubbed videos
Currently, the option to dub videos is only available to those creators who are running channels focused on knowledge and information. YouTube also mentions that the feature to automatically dub videos will expand to “other types of content soon.”
The automatically dubbed audio depends on the language used in the original video. If an eligible creator uploads a video in English, the AI-powered feature will translate it into different languages. It includes French, German, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Indonesian, Japanese, and Portuguese. Similarly, if the video starts in any of these languages, the feature will only dub the video into English.
The creators with access to the feature can opt to preview an automatically created AI-dubbed video before they publish the original one. According to a support document for the feature, they can also unpublish or delete the automatically dubbed videos.
YouTube says it’s working hard to make the dubbed output as accurate as possible
If you’re curious to hear how these dubbed videos sound, we’ve included an example below. Do note that the dubbed videos aren’t very natural-sounding as of now. However, YouTube promises that the dubs will get better at emulating “tone, emotion, and even the ambiance of the surroundings” with further updates.
YouTube is quite cautious about this feature given the use of artificial intelligence (AI). It adds, “This technology is still pretty new, and it won’t always be perfect.” However, the platform confirms that it is “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.”