Instagram now offers auto-generated captions to videos, 17 languages supported at launch

As Instagram consolidates its videos onto a single app, the Facebook-owned social media platform has started rolling out auto-generated captions. Captions will be auto-enabled for all videos, but users can disable the same.

Auto-generated captions are gradually going live for all videos on Instagram. These captions should help users who prefer to watch videos with the audio muted. The feature was long overdue, admitted Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a Tweet and a Facebook post announcing the new feature.

Content creators on Instagram had to employ some tedious tricks to generate captions and embed them into their videos. The auto-generated captions will be tremendously helpful for such creators. Moreover, the feature will also make Instagram more accessible to hard-of-hearing and deaf users, noted Mosseri.

Currently, the backend system for the auto-generated captions can pump out the subtitles in 17 languages. These include English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Vietnamese, Italian, German, Turkish, Russian, Thai, Tagalog, Urdu, Malay, Hindi, Indonesian, and Japanese. Instagram has indicated that it will gradually add more languages.

Users can turn the auto-generated captions on or off by going into their advanced settings in the app and toggling the “Show captions” option. As with all auto-generated content, there are bound to be some grammatical mistakes or poor transcripts. Instagram has assured that the AI behind the captions will continue to improve as it learns.

Instagram has confirmed that it is consolidating all videos onto a single app. The platform is ending support for its standalone app for IGTV. Additionally, Instagram has reaffirmed its commitment to Reels. The Facebook-owned platform even announced that Reels has consistently remained the largest contributor to engagement growth on the app.