Google Assistant is handling real-time translations at CES 2019, and we got to take it for a test run. Here’s how it did.
For the first time today since graduating high school, I don’t feel guilty about forgetting the years’ worth of Spanish I learned. Better, I don’t expect to feel guilty about it ever again thanks to Google Assistant.
That’s because Google Assistant is being upgraded to tackle one of the most intimidating things about traveling to a foreign country: it’s adding real-time translation to Google’s increasingly smart AI voice assistant.
I got to demo Interpreter Mode, as it’s officially called, by commanding a Google Home Hub smart speaker with a single phrase: “Okay, Google, become my Italian Interpreter.” I then had a full conversation with someone who spoke Italian, even though I don’t know uno from due – until Assistant helped me out by reciting the words in English seconds later.
Google Assistant Interpreter Mode is potentially world-changing for the future of travel: I won’t need to be bilingual in order to properly visit places and converse with locals in China, France, Italy, and so on. And there’s no need to boot up a translation app, sort through language selection dropdown menus, or spend time typing in words.
