Meta is working on a universal language translator

As part of a recent live streamed event on Wednesday, Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company is working on a new universal speech translation system, which will use an AI to translate 100s of spoken and written languages in real time.

According to the announcement, the idea behind the system is to streamline the interactions of users within Meta's metaverse and digital worlds. It will come as part of a two-stage plan, where the first step involves creating the No Language Left Behind translation system that will learn every language it can. This will then be used in the AI Babelfish, which will ideally deliver instant speech-to-speech translation across all languages, to hopefully provide the ability to communicate with anyone in any language.

With this plan in mind, Meta has also announced that it will be working with linguists to ensure the data it collects is accurate, and will be relying on sustained input from said analysts to ensure it reaches its long-term translation goals.

You can read the lengthy and full blog post that explores the entire plan here, if you're looking for extra details on the technical aspect of what Meta intends to accomplish.