During the conference panel session “The Views From Language Technology Service Providers” at the Innovation and Transformation Summit (ITS): Localisation event in London on Feb. 28, several MESA members discussed how the growth in demand for localisation is being met and why the creative aspect of it remans at the heart of the industry.
As the localisation market continues to shift and evolve so too are the opportunities to service content companies around language, localisation and data, according to MESA.
A steady stream of mergers and acquisitions are being seen, meanwhile, as organisations look to future-proof their businesses and establish a strong footing to cope with the burgeoning demand.
The creation of more streamlined workflows and greater use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and voice technologies is necessary to help service providers meet the requirements of their customers, according to MESA.
“What has been really interesting about today and where we go forward, which kind of does relate to … any of the tech companies who are working on things like AI is that it needs to be a combined effort,” Nicky McBride, head of global business development and client relationships at Iyuno, said during the panel session.
“Now, whether that’s through M&A or just partnerships remains to be seen,” she said, adding: “What’s really, really clear is it’s very difficult, if you’re an AI technology company to do anything without working with a localisation partner.”
She pointed out that “you still need” voice actors, directors and others, and the studio still needs somebody “to be actually acting and doing the role…. None of that takes away from the way that the dubbing functions are done right now.”
She warned, however, that “what we have to be really, really careful about is potentially alienating the talent pool.” After all, there is already a strike in Italy now and “we need them – we all need them – [for] everyone to successfully dub anything.”
Meanwhile, “on the M&A front, I think that really the M&A’s mirroring the same M&A at the client level,” according to Carlo DeCianti, head of sales at Plint.
“I think probably there is a need [for some] consolidation . . . but there’s always a need for a few independents and more boutique services. So I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing . . . either way,” he said.
On the AI front, “from a consumer perspective, for me, the big question is should the consumer be aware that they’re watching something that’s . . . sim-driven,” he said, adding: “Maybe that will shift through generations where in fixed territories, where you know the voice talents are . . . as big as the original actor, maybe over time that will shift and having purely sim voices will just be the norm. I don’t know the answer.”
But he added: “I think if you’re watching a live action series or movie, it’s certainly” possible that some viewers may want to know the voices have been generated using AI.
In response to that, Josh Pine, chief revenue officer at XL8, said: “Notwithstanding the voice part of the AI, there’s AI across the entire process or workflow within the LSP community. And, as AI is used in the workflow and the production process, notwithstanding there are specialised people who have famous voices that will have to then be used at the end for the dubbing . . . a lot of the other workflow processes, whether it’s machine translation and other pieces of the puzzle, as we become more inundated with content to push out through this funnel, we have to follow, in the LSP world, a more follow the sun approach.”
Sophia Klippvik, marketing manager at LinQ Media, and Matteo Natale, VP of global localization at Vubiquity, also participated in the panel.
The Innovation and Transformation Summit: Localisation was sponsored by AppTek, Signiant, EIDR, Iyuno, LinQ Media Group, Vubiquity, OOONA, XL8, and Collot Baca, and was produced by MESA, in association with the Content Localisation Council.