YouTube Auto-Dubbing: Everything You Need to Know (And Why Human Dubbing is Still Better)

As YouTube continues to expand globally, language barriers have become an obstacle for creators wanting to reach new audiences. To address this, YouTube recently launched an AI-powered auto-dubbing tool, created by YouTube’s subdivision Aloud, designed to automatically dub videos into various languages. The feature promises to streamline content creation for global audiences, but its effectiveness remains up for debate. The auto-dubbing feature is not available to all creators as of right now. YouTube says it will expand to 100,000s of creators in coming months.

In this article, we’ll dive deep into YouTube’s auto-dubbing tool, how it works, its benefits and challenges, and why human dubbing—particularly through services like BeMultilingual—is often the better choice for creators seeking high-quality, culturally-sensitive translations.

What is YouTube Auto-Dubbing?

YouTube’s auto-dubbing feature, announced during the Sep 18, 2024 “Made on YouTube” event, uses AI to automatically translate and generate audio tracks in different languages for creators' videos. Created by Aloud, this tool has the potential to break down language barriers by translating and voicing over content, allowing creators to reach a global audience.

With auto-dubbing, videos can be instantly dubbed into languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, and recently expanded options like French and Italian. YouTube aims to open the feature to hundreds of thousands of creators over the coming months.

How Does YouTube Auto-Dubbing Work?

The process for using YouTube auto-dubbing is simple:

1. Upload a video to YouTube.

2. The platform's AI analyzes and translates the script into a target language.

3. The AI generates an audio track based on the translation, creating an automatic voiceover.

4. Review before publishing: Creators can choose to review the auto-dubbed track before publishing or automatically publish the video with the new audio track.

According to Google, creators can opt-out of this feature if they prefer not to use it for certain videos:

“You can choose which languages will be automatically dubbed upon upload, with an opt-out available” - YouTube Help

The Shortcomings of Auto-Dubbing

While auto-dubbing seems like a promising feature, it has significant limitations:

1. Lack of Emotional Depth

AI-generated voices often sound robotic and unnatural. A glaring example comes from Kings and Generals, a popular YouTube channel with over 2.15 million subscribers, which used YouTube’s auto-dubbing for some of their historical content. The results?

A Spanish reviewer commented:

“It’s an AI voice, very computerized. The voice seems very artificial and at points is incomprehensible.”

Similarly, a Portuguese reviewer noted:

“The AI VO in PT is horrible. The voice is flat, weak, and robotic. It’s damaging the channel’s reputation.”

2. Cultural Disconnect

AI lacks cultural context. In certain videos, especially those discussing sensitive subjects like politics, history, or cultural customs, it’s crucial that the tone and context are handled appropriately. AI simply cannot adapt to these nuances, leading to an experience that can feel off-putting to native speakers.

3. Quality vs. Convenience

While AI might save time, it sacrifices quality. In fields where trust, emotion, and cultural relevance are key—such as education, entertainment, and history—viewers can easily sense the difference between a professionally dubbed video and one translated by a machine.

Reviews of the AI Dubbing

As you can see Aloud boasts about it's dubbing for the YouTube channel Kings and Generals on Aloud's home page.

However, let's see how the AI dubbing actually performs and sounds like: Link to the YouTube video: Click here to watch the AI-dubbed video

*** To see the dubs, click on the video, click settings, click audio tracks, and select the language you want to hear.***

Note: This video was released in September the same month YouTube has released this feature on the platform.

“It's an AI voice, very computerized. The voice seems very artificial and at points is incomprehensible. Too bad as the theme of the channel seems interesting to me.” 

- Independent Spanish Viewer

“The AI VO in PT is horrible. I have seen better AI voices but this one is flat, weak, very robotic, female (high pitch) and sounds ridiculous. Some parts are even funny. It is damaging their reputation - talking about power, Rome, masculinity... I can say one thing more: because of this painful female AI VO, the channel may not be reaching the PT audience or not pleasing it. I rolled and rolled and didn't find a comment in PT. The human VO in English in the same video is far, far better and the comments show how much the male audience enjoys it. There are even people saying how nice the voice is.” 

- Independent Portuguese Viewer

Who Should Use YouTube Auto-Dubbing?

YouTube’s auto-dubbing feature can be helpful for certain types of creators:

• Casual content creators who post frequently and don’t require high levels of emotional depth in their translations (e.g., daily vloggers).

• Creators with limited budgets who are just starting to explore international audiences and need an inexpensive, quick solution.

However, for creators with highly specialized or emotional content, the limitations of auto-dubbing can be a dealbreaker.

When YouTube Auto-Dubbing Falls Short: Why Professional Dubbing Matters

When it comes to engaging audiences, quality is paramount, especially for channels that require a deeper connection with their viewers. This is where BeMultilingual—a team of professional human voice actors and translators—outshines AI.

1. Human Voices Bring Emotion

AI simply can’t replicate the range of emotion that human voices can provide. Whether it's the urgency in a documentary or the humor in a comedy skit, human dubbing captures the subtle elements that resonate with audiences.

Take SV2, a YouTube creator with over 3.3 million subscribers. Since partnering with BeMultilingual, SV2 has seen nearly double the views:

“BeMultilingual dubbing has helped my channel reach a whole new audience! Views have increased by almost double since working with them.”

2. Cultural Context Matters

A great translation is more than just words—it’s about understanding cultural nuances and localizing content. For instance, humor and idioms don’t always translate directly. A professional dubbing team like BeMultilingual ensures that jokes land, and sensitive topics are handled with care, ensuring creators don’t alienate or confuse their new audiences.

3. Maintaining Your Brand’s Integrity

Many creators have built a personal brand where their voice, tone, and delivery play a huge role in their success. AI lacks the ability to adapt its voice to match the unique personality of the creator. BeMultilingual, on the other hand, provides custom solutions that align with the creator's brand, ensuring consistent quality across languages.

Language Support in YouTube Auto-Dubbing

Currently, YouTube’s auto-dubbing supports a handful of languages, including:

• Spanish

• Portuguese

• French

• Italian

YouTube has promised that more languages will be added over time, allowing creators to dub their content in languages like German, Hindi, and more. However, language availability may still be limited, especially in smaller markets.

BeMultilingual offers over 15 languages, including key markets like Arabic, Hindi, Korean, Russian, and more. This wider array of language support allows creators to reach diverse, underrepresented audiences. BeMultilingual provides audio tracks in the same way YouTube would automatically create them, using the multi-language audio feature but instead, BeMultilingual leaves you with professional human dubs directly uploaded to your channel.

Human Dubbing with BeMultilingual: The Superior Alternative

While YouTube’s AI auto-dubbing might be good enough for quick, low-budget translations, creators who care about maintaining the integrity of their content and building genuine connections with international audiences will find that human dubbing is the better option.

Here’s why BeMultilingual stands out:

1. Native-Speaking Voice Actors: BeMultilingual uses professional native-speaking voice actors who understand the tone, context, and emotional depth required to truly resonate with an audience.

2. Custom Dubbing Solutions: BeMultilingual offers tailored solutions that allow creators to select the type of voice and tone they need, ensuring that the dubbed content maintains the same feel as the original.

3. A Proven Track Record: With glowing testimonials from creators like Glitch and Rocky Kanaka, it’s clear that working with professionals can lead to substantial increases in views and audience engagement.

“The team at BeMultilingual have been extremely professional and provided great translation services that boosted our video’s performance.” — Glitch, 6.8M subscribers.

Future of AI and Human Dubbing: A Hybrid Approach?

As AI dubbing technology continues to evolve, there may be opportunities for hybrid approaches that combine the efficiency of AI with the emotional depth of human voices. For instance, AI could handle the initial translation, while human editors refine the output to match cultural nuances and tonal requirements.

For now, however, creators should carefully consider the type of content they produce and whether AI dubbing is sufficient for their needs. If reaching a global audience with high-quality, culturally-appropriate content is your goal, BeMultilingual is the clear choice.

Final Thoughts: YouTube Auto-Dubbing vs. Human Dubbing

While YouTube’s auto-dubbing feature has its merits, the reality is that AI cannot yet match the quality and emotional depth provided by human dubbing. The robotic, lifeless voices generated by AI can damage a creator’s reputation and lead to a disconnection with international audiences.

For creators who are serious about expanding their reach and maintaining the quality of their content, human dubbing services like BeMultilingual offer the best solution. With professional voice actors, culturally-aware translations, and proven results, BeMultilingual helps creators grow their global audiences while preserving the essence of their content.

So, if you want your content to truly resonate with audiences worldwide, the choice is clear—choose human, choose BeMultilingual. If you are looking to get in contact with BeMultilingual click here.