You will be able to speak in foreign languages during your Microsoft Teams meetings thanks to AI

Microsoft has announced Interpreter, a new AI feature for Teams that will allow real-time conversation interpretation with the option to mimic the user’s voice in different languages. This tool will be available in early 2025 for Microsoft 365 subscribers and will support up to nine languages: Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Mandarin.

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The technology works by simulating the user’s voice during meetings, but according to Microsoft, it does not store biometric data or introduce emotions that are not naturally present in the voice. Activating this feature requires user consent, either through a notification in the meeting or by adjusting Teams settings. A Microsoft spokesperson told TechCrunch that “Interpreter is designed to faithfully replicate the speaker’s message without adding unnecessary information.”

The use of artificial intelligence in translation is not exclusive to Microsoft. Companies like Meta are testing similar tools, and platforms like ElevenLabs already offer multilingual solutions. Although these technologies do not yet match the linguistic richness or cultural accuracy of human translators, their low cost makes them very attractive.

However, this type of tool can be very dangerous in the wrong hands. Deepfakes have complicated the detection of misinformation on the Internet, including cases involving public figures like Joe Biden and Taylor Swift. According to the FTC, losses from impersonation scams exceeded one billion dollars in the last year, and attacks through voice impersonations are on the rise, such as a recent case where cybercriminals scammed 25 million dollars using a fake Teams meeting.

Although Microsoft claims that Interpreter has a limited focus, the risk of abuse by potential wrongdoers is always present, as they could use recordings to obtain translations for malicious purposes. Will the company implement measures to prevent these situations?

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