Meta is adding an AI-powered live video translation tool to Instagram Reels that synchronizes language with lip movements. The first supported language pair will be English and Spanish, with others to follow. This is reported by UNN with reference to Mashable.
Details
Meta is adding its AI-powered voice translation tool to Instagram Reels, meaning viewers will soon be able to see people in their feed speaking a different language than the one they recorded the video in.
On Wednesday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that "the Meta AI feature powered by Llama 4, which provides live lip-synced translation, will be added to all public Instagram accounts, as well as Facebook."
As the publication notes, it is not exactly clear when this will happen, but "when it does, the only language available will be translation from Spanish to English and vice versa, with other languages to follow."
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In the video, Mosseri also included an AI-translated version of his video announcement. The Instagram head's voice and mouth are synchronized with the Spanish translation.
Addition
Meta announced the launch of its AI-powered live translation tool back in September 2024. The feature is powered by the large language model Llama and was initially tested on videos by creators from Latin America and the US, translating their content from English to Spanish and vice versa.
While Meta is betting on live translation, this technology is no longer unique. Similar services are offered by Google Gemini, OpenAI's ChatGPT, and a number of multilingual translation platforms. For example, the new Google Pixel 10 voice translation feature allows real-time translation of phone calls, and Apple is also preparing similar tools for iOS 26. TikTok, in turn, is mostly limited to automatic subtitles, and some users resort to third-party apps for translating Live videos.
Despite the technological novelty, live translation in Instagram Reels raises some concerns among users. In the comments to Adam Mosseri's video, many expressed doubts about the accuracy of the translation and possible errors, noting that automatic subtitles might be a safer and more convenient solution.
As a native Spanish speaker, I have to say this sounds and looks creepy. AI subtitles are more than enough.