Microsoft teases AI interpreter that can translate speech in real time

Imagine being in a meeting, perhaps with a client or with other team members, and not quite sharing the same preferred languages. Communication barriers can cause all kinds of misunderstandings and issues when collaborating, and a translator isn’t always available.

At Ignite 2024, Microsoft just unveiled a cool new feature for Microsoft Teams that uses artificial intelligence to not only translate words from one language to another in real time, but even emulate the speaker’s voice, intonations, and mannerisms.

Microsoft says a preview version of this “AI interpreter” feature will come some time in early 2025, but it remains unknown when the feature will be released more generally across all versions of Teams.

The Teams interpreter will initially support nine languages: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Korean, German, Italian, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. Users will also be able to set whether they want the interpreter to mimic their own voices. For example, so the translated audio sounds like you’re the one speaking Spanish.

Further reading: Microsoft’s AI roadmap for Windows 11, revealed