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Julian Hale's avatar

This is not such a problem if those producing podcasts call on professional translators with experience of podcasting. I speak French, Spanish, Italian and German plus have produced podcasts in German and French. There is a fee to be paid for this professional service. Relying on AI alone is not a good idea as the result will sound stilted, unnatural and there will probably be mistakes. My advice - consult a language/podcast professional such as me and pay a reasonable fee for the translation/adaptation service. A translation of this kind is a highly skilled job.

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Andreea Coscai's avatar

Thank you for sharing Julian! I agree we need to prioritize human work and expertise. That should be a priority, especially considering the cultural sensitivities that AI cannot really tackle at this point. Otherwise it can be a great tool if used intentionally and responsibly.

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federica capozzi's avatar

I think this is a major issue, in particular if your podcast is NOT in English. I mean - I am Italian, and my podcasts are in Italian, and I know this would be a great limit, if I wanted to target the European market. I agree with Julian that AI is not enough. Actually I tried my hand at it: I dubbed 2 seasons of a podcast using Rask.ai, cloning my own voice and using synthetic voices for my guests. It was a time-consuming process, because I had to edit all the translations and have them checked by an English mother tongue (they were awful), but in the end, it was quicker and cheaper than hiring a professional native dubber. I would have LOVED to hire a dubber: but my client didn't have any budget left and, most of all, we didn't have time. As for the result, it's acceptable, but still far, far away from what a human being can do. In my opinion, AI is still too "young" to use it on a regular basis. It could be acceptable if you need to translate a podcast for a practical reason, though - in my case, the podcast was a kind of audioguide for an exhibition, and we wanted to make it available for foreign visitors, too.

well, if you are curious, here's the link to the AI-translated show: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qK3VLFyttHTraGnZSt0gM?si=6ff5d968490b4f71

I'd love to read your comments about it!

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Molinos's avatar

I have really liked this interview with Lory!! I have to meet her!!

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Keelin's avatar

Multilingual podcasts need to become a norm, and the possibility of connection through it is invigorating possibility. I just don’t want it to be done via AI because there is no way it will get nuance.

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Andreea Coscai's avatar

Yes to more multilingual podcasts! Nuance is truly so important in that.

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Forrest Kelly's avatar

Truly loved Lory Martinez's story—go Lory! It's so inspiring to see skilled professionals not only rise to life's challenges but also lift others up along the way to success.

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