We are surrounded by more artificial intelligence than we realize in everyday life. Maps on our smartphones guide us to our destination, chatbots answer our questions, and smart home devices play podcasts or music on demand. 

How artificial intelligence simplifies everyday work 

Those who use Zoom to communicate benefit from many AI systems. You can find the technology in the following features and offerings:

• Virtual backgrounds 
• Background noise suppression 
• Virtual avatars 
• HD Audio
• Our chatbot, Zoom Virtual Agent

Speech recognition is another key aspect of our AI technology, as it provides the foundation for accessible communication by enabling live transcription and translation of Zoom Meetings. Customers, like Teach for All, use these capabilities to break down barriers to education, and they transcribe and translate recordings and chats. They break down language barriers, help people communicate with each other across the globe, and allow for post-meeting data processing, such as automatic logging and summary of what was said.

Artificial intelligence in the Zoom communication platform — development in Karlsruhe, in use worldwide

Karlsruhe has played a central role in the development of this Zoom technology since 2021. Since we acquired the KIT spin-off kites, a key part of our R&D team is based in Karlsruhe. Led by Sebastian Stüker, the team researches and develops applications that use artificial intelligence to recognize and translate speech. A feature that is now available to all Zoom users in 21 languages.

Site manager Sebastian Stüker, who holds a Ph.D. in computer science and is the Director of Research Science, stated, “We can overcome the language barrier in human communication and enable true global communication through automatic language translation."

The Karlsruhe site is not just about research and development. The Innovation Hub space is also a hands-on Zoom technology experience. All of the rooms are equipped with Zoom Rooms technology: 

• The receptionist, who works from London, greets guests and parcel deliverers on the screen at the entrance to the iWerk. In the event that she is unable to be present, other colleagues can step in virtually at any time. 
• When hybrid employees arrive at the office, they reserve their workspace using Zoom Workspace Reservation. 
• They meet with colleagues dispersed around the world using Zoom Rooms. Zoom Rooms automatically handle the technical management, while Smart Gallery, a Zoom Rooms feature, combines cutting-edge hardware and AI to create individual video feeds of in-room participants.

And last but not least: the Karlsruhe team frequently uses translation technology developed in-house. This is especially true for teams who embrace hybrid work. As Sebastian Stüker said, "Everyone is familiar with the situation: the meeting is underway, four Germans are in a room, and the conversation is in German, of course. A colleague from Singapore and a colleague from the U.S. join the conversation digitally and, thanks to live translation, can immediately understand whether we are still talking about lunch or the project. Language barriers are immediately broken down and no one feels left out, even before we continue in English.”

By opening the Zoom Innovation Hub in Karlsruhe, Zoom is not only investing in Germany as an R&D location. The new offices also offer interested customers the opportunity to experience all of the latest Zoom features first-hand. This way, we can show why it pays for small and medium businesses to invest in some of the best equipment for hybrid work.

Experience Zoom Rooms live

In our Zoom Experience Centers, you can also experience all the features and possibilities of Zoom Rooms — in-person and digitally. We will keep you up to date with how you can participate in our newsletter and on our website.