Spotify Technology is testing an AI-powered tool that will translate podcasts from people like Dax Shepard and Lex Fridman into other languages, the audio-streaming company said on Monday.
The feature is the Swedish company’s latest attempt to use generative artificial intelligence, a technology that has taken the world by storm since ChatGPT became popular, to attract new users and increase income.
Spotify said that the translated versions, which will be driven by OpenAI’s newly released voice generation technology backed by Microsoft, will mimic the style of the original speaker and sound more natural than dubbing.
For the piece, the company also worked with podcasters Monica Padman, Bill Simmons, and Steven Bartlett.
Spotify said that speech translations would be available in languages like Spanish, French, and German for a small number of episodes from the back catalog and new episodes. This could help the shows reach a wider audience.
Spotify has put a lot of money into its podcast business in the past few years, hoping that the higher levels of involvement that podcasts offer will bring in more advertisers.
But that made the company’s running costs go up. Last year, they went up twice as fast as the company’s income. Businesses are also spending less on ads because interest rates are going up and prices are going up.
