WhatsApp to launch Malayalam transcribe feature; new other AI features in pipeline

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: WhatsApp is introducing a new feature that turns long voice messages into short written messages. The feature uses artificial intelligence to understand the main idea of the voice message and convert it into text. This is called the "Transcribe" system. It is now available on both iPhone and Android phones. This feature is helpful for people who have trouble hearing. However, it does not work for audio recordings. The service is currently available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. More languages, including native ones, will be added soon.

Meanwhile, Meta, the company that owns WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, is facing a lawsuit. The case claims Meta is creating a monopoly in the market. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also facing a trial at the Federal Trade Commission. These new features, including Transcribe, is releasing during this time. After these updates, the number of WhatsApp users in the country has grown. It is expected that the user count will reach 800 million by the end of the year.

WhatsApp is making group chats easier to manage. Soon, there will be a feature that shows who is online in a group. Another new system will let users receive only the messages they want in group chats. Many people left groups because of too many messages. Now, users can choose to see only messages that mention them or are related to them. There will also be an option to scan documents, which will first be available to iPhone users. During video calls, users will be able to zoom in for better clarity.