--- title: "Microsoft Patents an AI That Can Literally Put Words in People’s Mouths in Real Time" description: "Microsoft just filed a patent for an AI product that would be able to transform live video in real time to alter speakers' words and faces." date: "2026-11-01" modified: "2026-11-01" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/microsoft-patents-ai-words-in-peoples-mouths" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "patents" --- # Microsoft Patents an AI That Can Literally Put Words in People’s Mouths in Real Time ![A photo illustration of a news broadcaster with a different mouth.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* Microsoft just filed a patent for an AI product that would be able to transform live video in real time to alter speakers' words and faces. The patent, as first [flagged by patent-tracker Patentlyze](), is described by its inventors as a "near real-time artificial intelligence (AI) enhancement of video or augmented reality (AR) presentations of live events." Using AI agents, the system would identify and alter or remove certain words, while editing a speaker's face and mouth to match. The agents would rely on set parameters or user profiles to make the changes, and would also edit the video and audio just before and after a removed or replaced word to allow for "smooth transitions." In an era of media and the internet increasingly defined by AI-fueled deepfakes, disinformation, and information-muddling slop, the system described in this patent may represent a new world of filtering tools that subtly alter reality as it takes place, in this case on a highly-personalized level. Viewers, the patent suggests, could consume whatever live event they want to without hearing what they don't want to hear. The potential use cases floated in the patent vary. One possible application is real-time translation, with the system allowing for broadcasts and other live footage to be both heard and seen in a viewer's preferred language. The patent also posits that such a tool could be used to remove filler words like "um" or "ah" from live speech, or to erase stutters or speech impediments. Other possible use cases, though, go much further. According to the patent, the system could be used to cut down on "personal words or phrases" like "coined terms," as well as "colloquial terms" like the term "y'all" or the phrase "bite the bullet." The patent also claims that the system could eliminate "mumbled words, mispronounced words, misused words, misspoken words, offensive words, insensitive words, or inappropriate words." Replacement words, it adds, may come from an "internet search." In other words, live broadcasts may not be so live anymore after all. Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Dubbing has existed for ages, and video footage is edited all the time, both for normal and for insidious reasons. Automatically editing live videos in this way with the help of AI agents, however, could change how audiences fundamentally engage with live footage. As it stands, if people don't like what they hear, they can simply turn something off; the system outlined by Microsoft describes an environment where people can instead adjust someone else's speech to their personal taste. Language translation aside, does using a tool that eliminates errors, or erases words and phrases associated with a speaker's local dialect, move us further into personalized bubbles? What's so bad about hearing someone from the South say "y'all?" To that end, the patent does mention that an event's original live video and audio may be recorded and stored for the sake of "ground truth," nodding to potential misuse and confusion that could arise from such a tool. The kinds of live footage that could be transformed by the system include lectures, presentations, a range of television productions — awards ceremonies, game and cooking shows — and live sports, among several others. **More on Big Tech patents:** *[Meta Patents Technology to Detect Your Mood by Constantly Analyzing Your Tone of Voice]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [Oxford Scientists Have an AI That Can Read Your Lips]() - [“I Guess They Used AI or Something”: Trump Says BBC Journalists Deepfaked “Words in My Mouth, Literally”]() - [Microsoft Wants to Censor Xbox Live Voice Chat in Real Time]() - [Sony Patents AI That Plays Video Games for You If You Get Stuck]() - [Apple Secretly Working on AirPod Feature That Translates Speech in Real-Time]() - [Watch CRISPR Edit DNA in Real Time]() - [Meta Patents Technology to Detect Your Mood by Constantly Analyzing Your Tone of Voice]() - [Scientists Suggest Sending AI to Aliens So They Can Talk to It in Real Time]()