For viewers who cannot read subtitles, hearing THE CHOSEN in their own language can make all the difference—and Come and See is using AI to help make that possible.
“We have an obligation to not just take it out in the written word, but in the spoken word.” Dr. Wendi Lord, vice president of localization at Come and See, told Deseret News in a May interview.
The faith-based nonprofit has developed a translation app that helps bring the series about Jesus to communities with fewer translation and dubbing resources. According to a fact sheet provided to Movieguide®, the process combines AI-generated drafts with careful human review rather than letting a machine have the final say.
That distinction matters when the material concerns Scripture. A faster translation still needs to communicate the right meaning, not simply produce a string of plausible words.
Come and See’s mission includes making all seven seasons globally available, translating the entire series into 600 languages and keeping it free to watch. The 600-language target remains a goal as translation teams continue their work.
Lord and a team of more than 200 experts oversee the work, according to the supplied fact sheet. For subtitles, the app allows AI to make an initial translation, then a trained subject matter expert examines each line for accuracy, biblical fidelity and cultural relevance.
The reviewer also checks reading speed, making sure viewers do not face too many words on the screen at once. After the team exports the subtitles and embeds them into the video, the expert conducts another review.
But subtitles cannot solve every access problem. For communities where people primarily learn by listening, or where viewers cannot read, a written translation can still leave the story out of reach.
That is where the app’s speech-to-speech feature comes in. A subject matter expert records dialogue in the local language, and the technology overlays the original actor’s vocal characteristics onto that recording, according to Come and See’s fact sheet.
The aim is to combine local pronunciation with the cast’s performance qualities. Come and See also says the approach helps protect translators in high-risk regions by masking their voices; that is a stated benefit of the system, not a guarantee of safety.
The organization does not use the same AI workflow everywhere. Lord told Deseret News that major languages with established dubbing infrastructure, including Spanish, French, Italian and Hindi, use professional dubbing teams and human experts instead.
“I believe AI will do to translation what the microwave did to the stove,” Lord told China Christian Daily in a June interview. Her comparison leaves room for both approaches, rather than treating new technology as a reason to discard human expertise.
Come and See’s language directory lets viewers check translation availability by season, distinguishing subtitles from audio dubs and listing work still in progress. Families can use it to see what is available in a relative’s preferred language rather than assuming every translation covers the whole series.
For this effort, the technology serves a very human purpose: helping more people hear the story of Jesus in words they understand. The crucial work still belongs to the people checking those words, line by line.
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