At CES 2025, VLC media player made a noteworthy appearance, showcasing an innovative feature that autonomously creates subtitles. While the tech community is often inundated with new AI functionalities, many of which do not live up to their hype, this particular advancement genuinely seems practical.

VideoLAN, the organization behind VLC media player, has revealed its utilization of open-source AI technologies to implement automated subtitling. This feature comprises two key components: the generation of subtitles and their subsequent translation. During the demonstration at CES, VLC media player displayed its ability to produce subtitles in a variety of languages simultaneously. Although no release date has been confirmed for this function, the inclusion of translation capability is especially promising, as it enhances accessibility for viewers who may not be proficient in English.

In a recent video posted on X, Jean-Baptiste Kempf, the president of VideoLAN, mentioned that the AI-driven subtitle generation operates entirely offline. This assurance is particularly encouraging, given the common criticisms surrounding AI tools regarding data privacy violations and their significant energy consumption in data centers.

Despite the widespread embrace of streaming services, there remains a substantial demand for media player applications like VLC media player. With over 6 billion downloads to date, as noted by Kempf in a LinkedIn update, he stated, “Even in this era dominated by streaming services, the active user base of VLC continues to expand. It will be interesting to see how this trend evolves!” While there are more aesthetically pleasing alternatives, VLC media player has successfully maintained its relevance on computers across the globe. It consistently handles nearly every video format thrown its way and offers numerous hidden capabilities for users keen on exploring its full potential.