How AI can automate multi-language dubbing

Uncertainty is everywhere at the moment. Inflation remains high. Consumers are tightening their belts. Globally, growth remains feeble.

The smartest content producers will be spending much of autumn and winter seeking creative solutions to get more out of their existing video library.

Maybe the goal is growing viewer numbers or securing better engagement or opening up new marketplaces. But it can’t simply be producing more expensive content and increasing your cost base.

In this market, it’s no surprise that at Mipcom this year, we saw substantial enthusiasm for the rise of FAST apps, with expanded distribution hugely appealing for producers and distributors.

But a judicious application of technology can take this proposition even further. We’re already seeing the likes of Allen Media Group exploring the potential for increasing engagement by creating personalised FAST channels.

Similarly, there’s already evidence of growing interest in another key multiplier to expand revenue without incurring a sizeable cost – leveraging content for international markets.

Modern platforms make it easier to distribute translated content, including the social platforms like YouTube, and FAST platforms like Pluto, which are aggressively expanding in Latin America.

For some operators, on FAST networks or otherwise, this is a huge untapped resource – extending content to these audiences can add millions to viewership, as long as it’s done in the right way.

Bloomberg Media chief executive M Scott Havens has been open about the risks. Speaking on Press Gazette’s Future of Media Explained podcast, he warned, “if you don’t put out published products that are in native language, you just by definition are going to miss out on a lot of the engagement and credibility.”

Technology, and AI specifically, Havens said, represented an “opportunity over the next couple of years for [Bloomberg] to expand our footprint, and do so in an authentic and native way to some of these countries so that it doesn’t feel like an imperialist United States entrance and we assume they speak English”.

In that light, Bloomberg this week has partnered with Papercup to localise hundreds of hours of news content over the next 12 months, expanding the reach of some of their most popular online video series, like Quicktake.

Our AI dubbing system will help them instantly unlock an audience of millions, and they’re not alone in considering how technology can give them better reach.

Insider has already adopted this AI dubbing, which has helped them secure 300+ million new views across multiple languages in the past 12 months. This all by localising their award-wining existing content.

It’s exactly this kind of creative problem-solving which can offer a template for content providers and distributors facing up to a tough economic climate.

If you’re an online platform holder, consider how you can unlock existing content for new audiences. And for everyone, it’s time to engage with the myriad ways that AI can generate new revenue streams and help you to grow during a long, dark winter.

Right now, it’s clearer than ever that the strongest content owners and platforms are the ones who can think outside of the box, and find growth bringing their content to untrodden territory. 

Jesse Shemen is co-founder and CEO of Papercup