T-Mobile’s live translation AI agent will be included in your phone calls

The past few years have brought a new kind of high-tech convenience to our devices: many phones can now translate conversations in real time, without needing a human translator in the middle. using Google Translate application on Android phone or Apple AirPods Pro 3 Connected to iPhoneIt is possible to overcome language barriers.

But not everyone has a phone that can support live translation, or has the time or bandwidth to install an app (and perhaps commit to a subscription).

T-Mobile wants to remove any obstacles that stand in the way of talking to someone on a phone call. It has live web translation, so even if you own a website Basic dumb phone-You can talk to someone who speaks more than once 50 languages With the help of T-Mobile’s AI agent.

Starting today, T-Mobile is opening registration for the beta of the upcoming release Live translation The calling feature, which will begin testing in the spring. It is open to subscribers of any postpaid system T-Mobile plansuch as Essentials, Experience More, Experience Beyond, and Better Value plans.

“We want to make voice great again,” said John Cao, T-Mobile’s chief technology officer, noting that its customers make 6 billion international calls a year, and that 40% of those people travel internationally. “Live translation is a true breakthrough in innovation by introducing the latest AI models into our voice network.”

Just like during the beta version of what it became T satellite service, T-Mobile has not yet decided what plans will include the live translation calling feature. It also has not decided what the cost, if any, will be. T-Satellite is currently included in Experience Beyond and Better Value plans and is available in other plans as a $10 add-on. It is also open to Clients of other service providers For $10 a month.

I haven’t tried T-Mobile’s live translation but I look forward to testing it soon.

How will live translation work?

To turn on live subtitles during a call, a T-Mobile subscriber presses *87* (star-eight-seven-star) which activates the artificial intelligence agent. Only one call participant must be a T-Mobile subscriber, and this will also work while the customer is roaming.

T-Mobile says there’s no setup, no voice training, and no need to select languages ​​to translate. The AI ​​agent detects which languages ​​are being spoken in real-time and speaks the translation when the person stops speaking.

The AI ​​agent will also detect if you are calling from another country and select a language to translate. If you call someone in Brazil, they might choose Portuguese, for example. If the person speaks a different language, such as Spanish instead of Brazilian Portuguese, the agent will switch immediately.

Also, the spoken translation will not sound like a robot voice. “Our AI model can replicate your voice in another language and keep the tone, emotions, and cadence as well,” Saw said, “all of which is picked up quickly.” He attributes the performance to the low latency inherent in T-Mobile’s advanced 5G network.

Once activated, the feature does not need to be turned off. If both speakers switch to the same language, the AI ​​agent will stop acting as an intermediary.

The real test will be the quality of translations. “We’ve done a lot of benchmarking for AI-powered translations, and they match the accuracy of all existing services,” Saw said. Said model is compatible with FCC Captioning Guidelines (FCC 2027). It caters to everyone ADA accessibility standards.

When I asked Saw if conversations were being recorded, even during the trial period, he said that this kind of fine-tuning is done using only millions of internal test calls. “We do not listen to customer calls, and (the AI ​​models) are not trained on customer data,” Saw said, noting that the service meets all FCC guidelines regarding privacy.

Exactly what AI translation models are being used, or which partner companies are providing them, is something Saw declined to share. He confirmed that T-Mobile is working with several AI companies, but “we won’t name them because we like them all the same.”

Saw noted that the way T-Mobile’s network is designed as a platform has the advantage of being able to deliver updated AI translation models, trigger the upgrade overnight and make it available to hundreds of millions of phones.

Live translation is just the T-Mobile agent’s first AI feature

All major mobile phone providers are applying AI at different levels. AT&T recently announced Artificial intelligence technology to improve internet traffic At the home router level, for example, and Verizon as well Recruiting artificial intelligence from Google To improve the customer service experience. T-Mobile itself automatically uses AI Redirecting cellular load between towers During emergencies.

Without mentioning specific upcoming strategies, Saw mentioned some other tasks that AI agents could handle in the future, such as an AI receptionist or an AI janitor. Centering AI technology in the network opens up these possibilities.

So why would the company choose live translation as the first entry into its customer-facing AI-based network features?

“Direct translation is not an easier solution, but it is the right pain point to solve today,” Cao replied.