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Samsung to Add Real-Time Translation to Smartphone Model

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 (L) and Z Flip5 (R) smartphones are displayed at a Samsung Electronics store in Seoul on October 31, 2023. (AFP)
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 (L) and Z Flip5 (R) smartphones are displayed at a Samsung Electronics store in Seoul on October 31, 2023. (AFP)
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Samsung to Add Real-Time Translation to Smartphone Model

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 (L) and Z Flip5 (R) smartphones are displayed at a Samsung Electronics store in Seoul on October 31, 2023. (AFP)
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 (L) and Z Flip5 (R) smartphones are displayed at a Samsung Electronics store in Seoul on October 31, 2023. (AFP)

Samsung Electronics will roll out a real-time call translation service using AI technology next year, the firm told AFP Friday, claiming it would make conversing across languages as easy as "turning on closed captions".

Samsung is among a host of tech companies spending billions in a global artificial intelligence gold rush, which has so far seen chatbots that mimic human speech and software that can generate lifelike images and videos.

The firm, the world's largest smartphone maker, says the new real-time translation feature will be incorporated into its new Galaxy flagship model, which will launch early next year.

It will enable "real-time translation in audio and text as the callers are on the line", a company spokesman told AFP, adding that it has not been determined how many languages will be supported.

The translation will be enabled even if a call partner uses a non-Samsung smartphone, as the new model will use "on-device AI technology".

Speaking to someone in a foreign language using the feature will be "as simple as turning on closed captions" on streaming shows, Samsung said in a press release, with private conversations safely locked in on the phones.

Analysts said it would be a "significant achievement" and sign of real technological progress if Samsung's AI could offer real-time translation of voice calls -- but questioned how it would work.

"The whole process will take at least three to four seconds during which the AI will understand an original content and translate into a foreign language and then verbalizes it to a listener," said Lee Won-kang, head of AI-based translation startup XL8's South Korea operation.

"We will have to actually see and use it ourselves to see how good it is, including whether translated contents will be spoken in AI voice or original voice."

AI sprawl

The unveiling comes as the South Korean firm is racing to develop its generative AI model called Samsung Gauss, which comes in three fields of language, code and image, and is currently used among company staff.

The company will incorporate the AI system into its wide range of products in the near future, it said, without specifying timing or the models.

Samsung's language AI will be able to help with everything from composing emails to summarizing documents, while the code AI will help developers to "code easily and quickly", the company said.

Samsung's AI on images will be capable of converting low-resolution images to high-resolution, and also both generating and editing images, it added.

Embedded generative AI "will change how we think about our phones forever", Choi Won-joon, head of Samsung's smartphone R&D sector, said in a statement.

While AI firms have hailed the technology's potential to facilitate major breakthroughs in science, medicine and public services, governments and watchdogs have raised alarms about data privacy and disinformation.

US President Joe Biden issued an executive order last month on regulating AI, the latest in a series of government measures aimed at curtailing the potential dangers of the technology.

Samsung said in a statement on Thursday that GalaxyAI will run on its devices, and "private conversations never leave your phone".

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New Brazil Law Restricts Use of Smartphones in Elementary and High Schools

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks at a ceremony for the signing of a bill that restricts the use of cellphones in schools nationwide, at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks at a ceremony for the signing of a bill that restricts the use of cellphones in schools nationwide, at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)
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New Brazil Law Restricts Use of Smartphones in Elementary and High Schools

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks at a ceremony for the signing of a bill that restricts the use of cellphones in schools nationwide, at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks at a ceremony for the signing of a bill that restricts the use of cellphones in schools nationwide, at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday signed a bill restricting the use of smartphones at school, following a global trend for such limitations.

The move will impact students at elementary and high schools across the South American nation starting in February. It provides a legal framework to ensure students only use such devices in cases of emergency and danger, for educational purposes, or if they have disabilities and require them.

"We cannot allow humanism to be replaced by algorithms," Lula said in a closed ceremony at the presidential palace in the capital, Brasilia, adding that the bill "acknowledges the work of every serious person in education, everyone who wants to take care of children and teenagers in this country."

In May, Fundacao Getulio Vargas, a leading think-tank and university, said Brazil had more smartphones than people, with 258 million devices for a population of 203 million Brazilians. Local market researchers said last year that Brazilians spend 9 hours and 13 minutes per day on screens, one of the world's highest figures.

Education minister Camilo Santana told journalists that children are going online at early ages, making it harder for parents to keep track of what they do, and that restricting smartphones at school will help them.

The bill had rare support across the political spectrum, both from allies of leftist Lula and his far-right foe, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Many parents and students also approved the move. A survey released in October by Brazilian pollster Datafolha said that almost two-thirds of respondents supported banning the use of smartphones by children and teenagers at schools. More than three-quarters said those devices do more harm than good to their children.

"(Restricting cellphones) is tough, but necessary. It is useful for them to do searches for school, but to use it socially isn't good," said Ricardo Martins Ramos, 43, father of two girls and the owner of a hamburger restaurant in Rio de Janeiro. "Kids will interact more."

His 13-year-old daughter Isabela said her classmates struggled to focus during class because of their smartphones. She approved the move, but doesn't see it as enough to improve the learning environment for everyone.

"When the teacher lets you use the cellphone, it is because he wants you to do searches," she said. "There's still a lot of things that schools can't solve, such as bullying and harassment."

As of 2023, about two-thirds of Brazilian schools imposed some restriction on cellphone use, while 28% banned them entirely, according to a survey released in August by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee.

The Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro, Maranhao and Goias have already passed local bills to ban such devices at schools. However, authorities have struggled to enforce these laws.

Authorities in Sao Paulo, the most populous state in Brazil, are discussing whether smartphones should be banned both in public and private schools.

Gabriele Alexandra Henriques Pinheiro, 25, works at a beauty parlor and is the mother of a boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. She also agrees with the restrictions, but says adults will continue to be a bad example of smartphone use for children.

"It is tough," she said. "I try to restrict the time my son watches any screens, but whenever I have a task to perform I have to use the smartphone to be able to do it all," she said.

Institutions, governments, parents and others have for years associated smartphone use by children with bullying, suicidal ideation, anxiety and loss of concentration necessary for learning. China moved last year to limit children’s use of smartphones, while France has in place a ban on smartphones in schools for kids aged six to 15.

Cellphone bans have gained traction across the United States, where eight states have passed laws or policies that ban or restrict cellphone use to try to curb student phone access and minimize distractions in classrooms.

An increasing number of parents across Europe who are concerned by evidence that smartphone use among young kids jeopardizes their safety and mental health.

A report published in September by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, said one in four countries has already restricted the use of such devices at schools.

Last year in a US Senate hearing, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to parents of children exploited, bullied or driven to self-harm via social media. He also noted Meta’s continued investments in "industrywide" efforts to protect children.