Amazon is looking to turn Alexa into a real-time language translator, according to Yahoo Finance.
It plans to introduce the ability for Alexa to translate languages beyond basic words and short phrases it can already translate in different languages including Spanish, German, French and Italian.
One example Yahoo gives of its potential usage is of an American person attending a wedding in Japan who doesn’t speak Japanese, Alexa would be able to help that person hold a conversation in Japanese.
Alongside the obvious language difficulties, Alexa would be able to incorporate an understanding of the Japanese culture in to its translations. For example, asking the virtual assistant, “Alexa, what do I say to the father of the bride at a wedding in Japan?” would solicit a different response and tone from Alexa than if you asked the assistant ”What do I say to the master of ceremonies at a wedding in Japan?” The understanding being that remarks you make to the father of the bride would be more formal and reverential than to the wedding’s master of ceremony.
Sources also told Yahoo Finance that Amazon would like Alexa to translate languages for users through any device on-the-fly. Alexa would also one day be able to translate conversations with multiple people speaking in different languages at one setting.