Amazon Releases Dialogue-Boosting AI Tool

Are you the type of person who can’t “hear” a film without turning on the subtitles? You may now jump for joy and praise AI as Amazon’s Prime Video now offers a new accessibility feature that improves dialogue quality.

Everyone knows someone who turns on closed captions – and even those are subject to human error – to “read” what is happening on-screen during a film or series, and the web streaming service is capitalising on recent advances in AI technology to introduce “Dialogue Boost”.

According to Amazon, the AI-powered Dialogue Boost increases the volume of people talking relative to whatever is happening in the background – be it explosions, a shoot-out or a packed bar – and you can adjust it to your preferred specifics.

How it works: the AI scans the program’s audio, and then isolates and boosts the speech levels at timestamps where it might be drowned out by other sounds, thereby “creating a more comfortable and accessible viewing experience that cannot be found on any other global streaming service.”

While the option is intended for those with hearing impairments, it can be used by anyone.

The technology will initially be available for certain movies and TV shows, but it is expected to be rolled out widely.

Now, you can hear all those one-liners with crystal clarity!