Instagram adds AI lip-sync to automatically translate posts

John Cena, Dame Judi Dench and Kristen Bell among celebrities lending voices to chatbot

Photo of Meta’s logo taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos in January (AFP via Getty Images)

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has added a new AI translation tool that automatically syncs a person’s lips to match a different language.

The new feature is part of a package of updates for Meta’s AI assistant, Meta AI, which includes celebrity voice options for its chatbots.

Dame Judi Dench, John Cena and Kristen Bell are among those to lend their voice to the artificial intelligence chatbots, which users can access on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.

The new features were unveiled at Meta’s annual Connect conference, with chief executive Mark Zuckerberg saying they offered a “more natural” way to interact with AI.

The AI translation feature is not yet available to everybody, with Meta rolling it out to a small group of Instagram and Facebook users.

“We’re testing a Meta AI translation tool that will automatically translate the audio of Reels, so more people can enjoy your content, even if you speak different languages,” stated a blog post announcing the new tool.

“With automatic dubbing and lip syncing, Meta AI will simulate the speaker’s voice in another language and sync their lips to match.”

Other Meta AI updates include the ability to analyse images, as well as the option to create an AI-generated image using the Imagine feature.

Earlier this year, Meta was forced to pause the roll out of its AI assistant in Europe after the Irish Data Protection Commission blocked the company from using people’s data to train its large language models.

The company was one of 59 tech firms to sign an open letter warning that Europe risks falling behind in the AI race due to regulation.

Meta was not among the signatories of a new AI Pact, which saw over 100 companies pledge to “drive trustworthy and safe AI development”.

Meta’s share price hit a record high following the AI announcements, with the tech giant’s market cap now close to $1.5 trillion.