How would your businesses change if you could instantly translate and transcribe in nearly 100 languages?

Language barriers in business? That's old news. The future is multilingual and seamless.

Enter Meta AI and their fresh approach to global communication, revolutionizing cross-cultural collaborations and opening up a world of opportunities for businesses worldwide.

They've just open-sourced SeamlessM4T, a tool that translates and transcribes across speech and text in nearly 100 languages.

Here's a brief on its capabilities:

• Recognizes speech in almost 100 languages.
• Translates speech-to-text and vice-versa for nearly 100 languages.
• Can translate speech-to-speech for nearly 100 input languages and 35 output languages.
• Offers text-to-text and text-to-speech translations in numerous languages.

Now, consider the ripple effect on global businesses. The implications are vast as soon as this technology gets adopted and improved. Here are some soon-to-be instances from my professional experience:

1. Holding separate training sessions due to language barriers? Those days are over.
2. Meeting participants struggling in non-native languages? Not anymore.
3. Selecting project participants based on language skills? A thing of the past.
4. "This cannot be done centrally, because you won't find a Chinese speaker". Not the case anymore.

And of course despite all the advancements in global communication, the human aspect cannot be undermined. A study published in the Journal of World Business highlights the significance of the very first message exchanged between team members in global virtual teams. Researchers Glikson and Erez (2020) found that relationally-oriented content in the initial message sets the tone for subsequent communications. This crucial first interaction paves the way for a psychologically safe communication climate, ultimately enhancing the team's overall performance.

What does this mean for businesses? The tools are just the medium. The content, tone, and relational aspects of our messages are what truly matter. Even in a world with instant translations and transcriptions, the essence of effective communication remains in understanding and building relationships.

Recalling an offshoring project 8 years ago, language dependency restricted the transfer of many back-office processes. Advancements have since minimized such barriers, especially in written communication. But SeamlessM4T? It's a game-changer.

The GBS industry acknowledges the challenge of providing language-based services, given the scarcity of multilingual talent. But that barrier will soon be no more.

You think it will take ages before that tech improves and proliferates? Think again. It's already happening. Open-sourced just days ago, developers and innovators globally are diving in and exploring.

Before we know it, technologies like SeamlessM4T will be integral to our communication platforms. When seamless multilingual communication becomes the norm, global business dynamics will shift.

Welcome to the future of global communication.

Meta's announcement: https://ai.meta.com/blog/seamless-m4t/