Google is debuting three new AI experiments that are intended to help users learn foreign languages on the go. The tools utilize Google’s Gemini large language model to identify objects and situations in a user’s immediate environment and provide translations that could help users ask for help or spark a conversation.
II you want to give the new experiments a try, you can find them on the Google Labs webpage. Google experiments aren’t applications — which means you don’t have to download anything to get started. You can just click into the experiment you want to try and begin typing in your prompts.
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In debuting these new features, Google is going head-to-head with other foreign language-learning services that are also focusing on AI tools. Duolingo’s CEO recently announced that the company “will be going AI-first,” and OpenAI’s ChatGPT has the ability to begin new foreign-language conversations at any time upon request.
Tiny Lesson: Describe a situation
Google’s new Tiny Lesson tool allows users to describe a situation they’re in to learn vocabulary and grammar that can help describe a problem to the locals. Using the provided context, the tool will provide suggestions that aid users in understanding how to ask for help if they haven’t learned specific phrases tailored to their current issue.
Slang Hang: Casual talk
The Slang Hang tool promotes casual conversation over rigid sentence structure and grammatical agreement, teaching users how to drop the formalities and adapt a more colloquial way of speaking a foreign language. Slang Hang simulates conversations between native speakers and lets users discover what any words or phrases in the series of messages mean. The AI model sometimes misidentifies or hallucinates words, so you’ll need to double-check with another source when using this feature.
Word Cam: Detect items in photographs
The third and final new tool, Word Cam, uses Gemini to detect objects in photographs you take — providing you translations for your surroundings in the foreign language you’re learning. This feature helps you describe the world around you, but it’s possible that Gemini may not accurately label every single object in a picture you take. It’s still worth double-checking the translations you’re provided against another source while using Word Cam.
The language-learning experiments were created as a way to “inspire developers using Gemini for building different use cases and experiences,” Google representative Maggie Shiels told CNET.
This particular set of experiments is meant to focus on using the multimodal LLM as a way to promote bite-sized lessons on the go.
Google’s new features aren’t launching for every language — at least, not yet. Tiny Lesson, Slang Hang and Word Cam currently support translations for the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish languages.
Shiels said that Tiny Lesson, Slang Hang and Word Cam — like other Google Labs experiments — are not products and are not meant to be permanent features.
“This is a limited-time tool that will eventually sunset,” she told CNET. “We hope that developers have fun playing around.”
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