Reacción a "Meta designs artificial intelligence model capable of instant speech-to-speech translation"

The SEAMLESSM4T translator presented by the company Meta is an advanced technological product that brings together technologies previously developed by many people involved in AI R&D. The article published in Nature -Joint speech and text machine translation for up to 100 languages- does not contribute to scientific progress. The article published in Nature -Joint speech and text machine translation for up to 100 languages- does not contribute to scientific progress, since, on the basis of what has been published, independent specialists are not allowed to reproduce, test or even improve their technological bases, and only have access to connect to the translator to perform superficial examples of translations. This software does not comply with the principles of open source AI as defined by the Open Source Initiative: use, study, modify and share for any purpose. This is not allowed by this translator and is therefore not consistent with the principles of open science.

The translator, especially in its version of direct speech-to-speech translation, is a product that can be very useful, trying to mimic the service performed by simultaneous translators in the international context. The product does not prevent translation delays, nor does it prevent translation errors, nor does it prevent their correction in real time, which is done by translators. Another limitation is that it can only be used through the remote API (Application Programming Interface) via the internet, which is imposed by the company. All in all, the translator is a technologically advanced and probably very useful product, but closed to the principles of open science and with multiple technological and legal limitations.