It’s actually a lot *more* than mere translation. This new service, which just launched a week ago, makes it appear that the speaker of the original language is speaking in the target (second) language, all through the magic of AI. To learn more about this magical new service, read on. (There’s a free version, if you have some time to wait.) I (Doug) tried this out with a two-minute video about a newly-refreshed “Wall of Unreached Peoples” we’re launching in conjunction with Unleashed for the Unreached (U4theU). Here’s my original video in English:
I uploaded this video into the AI portal and – like magic – here is the Spanish version that came out the other side, around 10 minutes later. (By the way, although I’m not an expert in Spanish, I can get by. And this is not bad at all:
Yes, the AI engine didn’t know the correct word for prayer – and there’s a sentence that didn’t quite describe God in the correct fashion, so, I’m afraid we can’t quite give up language learning just yet, but this is VERY entertaining, right? So next, I asked it to produce a version in French:
And then, there’s Mandarin:
I *visited* Japan once — for about 5 days. But this makes it sound like I’ve been working fairly hard, right?
hahahahahaha
So how does this work? Just prepare the video in any one of 7 languages, upload it to the site, then choose a new target language (in any one of the other 6 languages). Note that the video can’t be longer than 5 minutes. And for sure, you have to fork over the $59/month – otherwise, you’ll be waiting in line for the *free* version until way long after the cows come home. I mean, the cows might actually pass away before it’s your turn, at this rate. But if you can come up with the $59 bucks, you’ll be able to AI-translate around 14 videos per month AND have a lot of fun.
So here’s my conclusion: Still… have a real native speaker review the outcome. If it’s not right, at least your native speaker will have a great head start. And you just might have saved a few *hours* translating the video the old-fashioned way. What’s more, it sure makes you look like you’ve been quite the language learner! hahahaha
I tried making a couple of videos in Spanish to see if I could get them to back-translate to English and, for me, for some reason, an error came up that said it was having trouble following my face. (Many others have told me the same thing. It seems to be a trend. haha)
Oh – I almost forgot – the name of the service is HeyGen Labs Video Translate. Find it at https://labs.heygen.com/video-translate. (Thanks to Justin Long who tipped us off to this service in his Weekly Roundup. Sign up at http://www.justinlong.org/roundup. I always gain something from every edition.)
SPEAKING IN TONGUES! This is absolutely amazing. The voice is the same, even the lips move in synch with each new language.
hahahaha indeed. We live in crazy times, eh? I’ve always enjoyed studying other languages. This makes it look like a guy took it to a whole new level?! : )
I ran across this company just a few days ago. I tried a sample 30 second video but it took 4 days to give results (free version, as I was testing it), resulting in no video but a complaint that the person had not faced the camera the entire time. Exciting stuff, though, as this could be very helpful, as long as we use back-translation to verify before publication or usage.
The word for prayer may be a matter of the side of the Atlantic Ocean. I heard “orar” and “oración” several times, and that was the preferred term in Spain when I worked there early this century.
Abundant blessings to you for continuing Brigada for so many years!
For sure the AI guys doing the model for this service must be Catholic. haha
French accent is halfway between Québécoi and Marseille France
Nice!!!!!
SIGN ME UP! Unfortunately, there is rumble in the Christian community…again. I am old enough to remember being told by my mother, “Do not watch television! It is of the devil!” The first TV screen was a green colored oval. It took 5 minutes for the tubes to warm up. Then, we had to get “nose-close” to see anything! The second time, I went with my brother to a friend’s house. We watched a BOXING MATCH! I was sure I was headed for hell! I won’t tell about my first “sneaking out” to go to a movie house! If I had been caught in a movie house fire, I would have gone directly…no passing GO…directly to hell! Doug, you have just shown us the good that is available if we use the ingeniously created tools. Oh, I am sure a ton of evil will spew from AI, but lets use it for good! THANKS! ~~~~NEAL
Neal, hahahaha, you’re funny. : ) For sure, this holds a lot of promise.
An awesome demonstration of the power of AI for mission. But, it is absolutely vital (because of that same power) that extremely secure protection exists with each translation being sent out in the missioner’s image, word, mouth & name. Since, just as Doug says a local believer needs to check & change (if necessary) any error in the translation; so an enemy of the gospel could subsequently tamper & change a word or more to cause the same discipling believer to contradict themself & proclaim heresy or a lie. May God give wisdom and discernment to developers to ensure truth remains truth, unhacked.
Boy Brian. You had to open up another can of worms. : ) What a crazy time in which we live.
This is all developing rapidly – and getting cheaper. If you’re not familiar with AppSumo and want to save some $$, take a look at their AI-related deals. You may find a deal for about $59 for LIFE (not per month) that will do the same thing (noting that LIFE means for the lifetime of the company, not your lifetime – one is sure to be shorter than the other!).