Transcribe
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Google could add call recording to its Android Phone app
Google's Phone app could soon let you not only record calls but transcribe them, according to an APK breakdown from 9to5Google and tests by XDA Developer. The latest version 44 of the app includes code that shows not only the existence of the feature, but how it could be legally implemented. On top of that, another snippet indicates that it might let you transcribe calls, likely using technology similar to Google's existing Recorder transcription app.
Google Translate is getting a transcribe mode for lectures, speeches
In the future, Google Translate will be able to transcribe long lectures while translating it into another language in real time. The tech giant has demonstrated the upcoming feature at an event in San Francisco where it demoed some of its artificial intelligence projects. Google previously introduced an interpreter mode for the app, but that one was designed for conversations while this is more for long-form speech. Transcribe mode will give you a way to, say, attend lectures in other languages or watch foreign movies without subtitles and get the gist of what's being said.
Surprise: People are listening to your Google Assistant queries
It's no secret that Google records your conversations with Google Assistant after you say a "wake word." But what you might not know is that Google uses contractors to manually review a handful of those recordings, about 0.2 percent. Yesterday, VRT NWS released reports detailing how it listened to thousands of recordings leaked by a whistleblower working for Google. At least one audio clip included a couple's address and personal information about their family.
YouTube brings human-enabled closed captioning to live video for Google I/O
If you were glued to your computer during the live broadcast of the Google I/O keynote yesterday morning, you might have noticed a new feature accompanying an otherwise recognizable YouTube video. The online video provider used this morning's conference kickoff as the springboard for its live captioning feature, which brings human input to the transcription process. According to Google's Naomi Black, a team of stenographers banged out translations during this morning's keynote. The resulting captions were then displayed on the conference floor and delivered by an "open source gadget" to the I/O YouTube channel. This new feature apparently prevents the inaccuracies experienced using Google's automatic captioning function, which, if you'll recall, provided us with at least a couple hearty chuckles when we took it for a spin. The code behind the new live captions will be available to YouTube's partners and competitors on Google Code. You can check out tomorrow's keynote to see how the humans fare.
