25: Voice Translation *Release Notes*

We’ve seen generative AI and large language models do some amazing things in the past year — but how do you go from a tech demo to a real shipping product? In this Release Notes episode of the NerdOut@Spotify podcast, we’ll hear about what it took to ship our Voice Translation pilot, which takes podcasts recorded in English and uses AI to generate the original podcaster’s voice speaking in Spanish (with German and French coming next).

Host Dave Zolotusky talks with senior machine learning engineering manager Sandeep Ghael about how we brought expertise from across the company in order to go from a weekend prototype to releasing fully translated episodes of Lex Fridman, Armchair Expert, and other podcasts — in just six weeks.

Read more about Voice Translation for podcasts:

• Spotify’s AI Voice Translation Pilot Means Your Favorite Podcasters Might Be Heard in Your Native Language

Hear the results on Spotify:

• Lex Fridman Podcast — “Interview with Yuval Noah Harari”
• Armchair Expert — “Kristen Bell, by the grace of god, returns”
• The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett — “Interview with Dr. Mindy Pelz”
• More episodes on the Voice Translation Hub

Read what else we’re nerding out about on the Spotify Engineering Blog: engineering.atspotify.com

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