Roblox has introduced a new AI model that can instantly translate in-game chat messages. It supports 16 languages, including English, Japanese, Thai, and French, among others
Roblox, the platform enabling users to create, share, and play games and experiences, has developed an AI model capable of real-time translation for text chats. The company’s ‘custom multilingual model’ translates chat messages so quickly that users may not even notice when the other person is typing in a different language.
While AI-powered translation is not new, Roblox claims its new system reduces latency to “approximately 100 milliseconds.” The company began developing a transformer-based large language model (LLM) that not only translates messages but also recognizes in-game slang and abbreviations like ‘obby,’ ‘afk,’ and ‘lol.’
The internally developed LLM supports 16 languages, such as English, Japanese, French, Polish, Vietnamese, Thai, and others, and can seamlessly translate between any language pair. While prohibited and offensive words will still be filtered, users can view the original message by tapping the icon next to the player’s name.
In an interview with The Verge, Roblox CTO Dan Sturman explained that it was logical for them to create their own AI model rather than relying on third-party solutions, given the scale of their project.
He further stated that the company intends to utilize AI in the future to substitute banned words with permissible ones and provide real-time voice translation capabilities. The company also appears to be developing the ability to automatically translate text appearing in images, textures, and 3D models.
During its developer conference last year, Roblox unveiled new tools that allow users to alter the size, shape, and texture of their avatars, as well as import their own 3D models and images.