[Weverse] Differences in Subtitles During Live Streams [Human vs. AI]

Let's talk about subtitles.

It's been half a year since they were discharged, and live streams from |BTS have increased, haven't they!
That brings me to the topic of subtitles. Yes, I absolutely love subtitles ( *´艸｀)
I recently tweeted about this on X and realized many people didn't know about it, so I'd like to summarize it here!

How much do I 'love subtitles'?

Originally, I've always liked reading and writing, as well as the world of translation. Supporting Korean stars accelerated this, and I became interested in 'subtitles'.

In the case of movies, I watch all the teasers beforehand to grasp the content, write down the subtitles I remember after watching the movie as a reconstruction, and then re-watch it on VOD later to compare.
When reading live streaming subtitles, I also mentally categorize them, thinking, 'Since this is the same text as yesterday, this part is likely the MC script,' and 'This part is today's ad-lib.'

I find it very interesting that by understanding the 'structure' revealed through reading subtitles, I can infer the world surrounding BTS from a different angle.

Types of Subtitles

Basically, there are two types: human-generated and AI-generated.
It seems there used to be a super feature called 'Fan Sub' where fans could add subtitles directly, but now it seems you can only view the fan subs that were added back then, and you cannot add them yourself.

Pay attention to the CC mark

In the case of Weverse, 'CC' is a sign for subtitles, and videos with subtitles have a CC mark.
When watching a live stream on Weverse, 'CC' appears at the bottom right of the screen, so please press it to switch to Japanese settings.

Originally, these are subtitles that also include situational descriptions for the hearing impaired, so they contain more information, such as speaker names. If you don't understand the meaning with just the Japanese translation, it's easier to understand if you prioritize checking those.

Human Subtitles (Visible to everyone)

These are mainly translated and entered by people listening to the audio (see the bottom of the article for hybrid patterns). The subtitles during live streaming of performances are likely the same.

1. Requires advance booking to secure translators

2. After the live stream ends, they are corrected and re-uploaded, so the subtitles disappear until then

3. Contextual understanding is strong, and you can sometimes see them trying really hard, which is thrilling

In the case of (2), there is no announcement or notification about when it will be uploaded, so I end up checking every day while waiting.

But the effort required to translate the chaotic and cute conversations of Bangtan is immeasurable.
If you mess up, the stock price could drop and ARMYs will charge in. Translators, fighting!

AI Subtitles (Digital Membership Exclusive)

A feature implemented in January 2025. This green heart-like icon is the mark of membership benefits.

1. This is for surprise live streams

2. AI subtitles can be viewed even after the live stream ends

3. Human-made subtitles may be added later

4. The weakness is that it cannot translate correctly if the language spoken is different from the one set before starting

By the way, I am a Digital Membership subscriber, so I don't know what it looks like if you aren't. If anything is different, please let me know in the comments!

To supplement (4), Weverse's automatic translation seems to basically support one language, and it seems that you set the base language before starting the live stream, and it automatically generates translation subtitles for that.

Therefore, if you mix English words like song titles or tour names while speaking in Korean, it tries to translate them into Korean words with similar sounds, and then translates that into Japanese, which makes it look strange. I feel like it has gotten a little better, though...
In cases where Namjoon speaks in English during a live stream, subtitles often don't appear.

I would appreciate it if Weverse Company could lecture their artists on "how to speak with AI subtitles in mind" and prepare a glossary for translation purposes for each artist, including song titles, in all supported languages.
And please sell that glossary to us as well. In the spirit of "win-win-win," please show more of your business acumen!!

By the way, my recent wish is for them to "include an interpreter who can pick up on military service talk and add notes to the subtitles"... ( ;∀;) I don't understand
Most interpreters are women, but since military service in South Korea is limited to men, I find it difficult because military terms are often just transliterated into Katakana. 💦

While I'm at it, a word about YouTube subtitle settings

On YouTube, you can also set the language individually in "Video details." Let's look at the settings using a video I made recently as an example.

"Video language = language supported for auto-generation," so if this setting is incorrect, the auto-generated subtitles will be weird.
For example, if you make a video in English but the "Video language" is set to Japanese, the auto-generation won't work properly, and the auto-translation from the auto-generated language won't be useful either ( ;∀;)

Subtitles can be added manually. Subtitles added here are reflected in the video's subtitle settings and transcriptions.
If nothing is set, you only get auto-subtitles, but for videos uploaded and left alone before this feature was added, even that doesn't exist, which is a disaster (T_T)

Once-in-a-lifetime live subtitles

Subtitles are a separate copyrighted work from the video. Since there are also translation rights, it seems that subtitle data is handled separately from the video, which leads to differences depending on the platform.
In the case of concert films, there are likely the following types of subtitles plus more.

1. Live streaming and delay

2. Movie teaser subtitles (vary by distributor)

3. Movie

4. VOD or disc

Subtitles during live streaming are replaced when they become VOD or disc, so they are a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Broadly speaking, the subtitles you see in movie theaters are the same.
What's quite different is (2), and depending on the content, even the first-person pronouns like "ore" or "boku" (I) are different, which changes the image significantly. This has its own charm, though.

Please keep in mind that the following information is likely to have been corrected if you re-watch it on a different medium later.

Subtitle creators, fighting!

Watching Hobi and Jin's solo tours, you can tell there is a basic script with ad-libs added in. Since it would be impossible to keep up if they were typing everything from scratch, I assume they receive the manuscript in advance.

For example, in the mini-game explanations during the Run Seokjin tour, Jin is also reading from a script, so I suspect the translators are sharing the same manuscript.

In the case of the first day of the Run Seokjin tour, the names of the band members other than the guitarist were not displayed, but they were displayed properly the next day.
There were no such accidents during Hobi's solo tour live streaming, which is why I made the following assumption.

Names are difficult to hear and transcribe, so advance materials are important; without them, accidents happen. I wish they would match it to what Hobi is calling them.

The "Real-time Subtitles" trend

Upon investigation, it seems that many human-generated subtitles these days are actually hybrid systems supported by AI.

• Speech Recognition

  • AI picks up the artist's speech and automatically generates subtitles -> Human corrects them

  • Human listens to the artist's speech and translates orally -> AI generates subtitles

• Automatic Translation

  • Human + AI generate key language subtitles -> AI generates subtitles for other languages

    • For example, relay translation using linguistically similar language families, such as using English as the lead runner and then passing it on to European languages

There were also cases where they used patterns like these, or a combination of them.

To keep up with BTS, who are global stars and Korean speakers, the development of translation technology is essential.
Since translation technology is often English-based, automatic translation between Korean and Japanese often results in unnatural expressions, which can be frustrating.
ARMYs will work hard on learning, so I hope the technology develops quickly too!!

I love subtitles!

There are dreams and romance in subtitles. I quite like how the way things are translated changes depending on the country or language, as it makes me feel the cultural differences. Even if there are some inaccuracies, it's fine if I just go and read the English/Korean subtitles myself!

I am always helped by the accounts that provide real-time translations.
The skills of ARMYs who create Japanese subtitle videos are also amazing, aren't they? I really wish the official side would adopt things like their careful picking up of overlapping topics, and the ease of identifying speakers using emoticons and text colors ( ;∀;)

Subtitles are long-term friends.
Since it's a system we'll be dealing with for a long time, I think it's good to know a little bit about how it works, as it will increase your enjoyment when watching various content. I recommend it!

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