Crunchyroll To Introduce AI-Generated Subtitles For Anime Viewing
The advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gradually leading industries towards automation. Crunchyroll, the leading anime streaming platform across the globe, has also revealed its plans to integrate AI-generated subtitles into its projects to enhance output and streamline production processes.
In a recent interview with The Verge, Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini sat down to talk about the long-term vision and future plans of the company to make the streaming platform a more attractive destination for anime fans. During the meeting, Rahul emphasized the potential of AI to optimize workflows within the organization.
Rahul stated that AI-generated subtitles are an area that Crunchyroll is currently very focused right now. “AI is definitely something we think about at a lot of different workflows in the organization. Right now, one of the areas we’re very focused on testing is subtitling and our closed captioning where we go from speech to text”, he outlined.
According to Rahul, this technology would streamline the process of converting spoken Japanese dialogue into subtitles in various languages, allowing the streaming service to deliver content internationally much closer to its original release. He also believes that it might be the key to prevent anime enjoyers from resorting to pirated websites.
“The streaming and early access to shows from Japan with subtitles and dubs is, I think, the biggest thing. Because pirate sites do provide that content as soon as possible, it has been the single biggest driver for converting people over. So if we can do that consistently and as fast as we can, I think that’s the biggest opportunity we have”, Rahul Purini added.
As these statements from Crunchyroll’s president came to the surface, social media erupted with fans expressing their concern regarding the quality of the AI-generated subtitles. Additionally, Crunchyroll had previously received backlash for low-quality AI subtitles in the “The Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons” premiere.
The subtitles were reportedly riddled with inaccuracies, grammatical errors, and absurd phrasing, leading to the deletion of episode from the streaming service. While AI is not currently deemed suitable for this nuanced process, Rahul Purini firmly believes that the rapid growth of AI translation quality may certainly meet fan expectations in the near future.
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