(Yicai Global) Aug. 20 -- Alibaba has unveiled a new feature for its artificial intelligence-based pornographic content screener -- the ability to listen out for erotic noises and language.

The Hangzhou-based firm has kicked off testing of the new feature, which is capable of identifying sexual moans and dirty talk in Chinese, English, Japanese, Russian and even some of the country's regional dialects, state-backed news outlet The Paper reported.

The comprehensive tool can screen erotic images, videos and text. Noted for its efficiency, the AI porn catcher will help to free up human censors made to sit through hours of stressful content each day.

The software is capable of processing hundreds of millions of images per day, with an accuracy rate as high as 99.5 percent, noted Wei Shi, a senior algorithm engineer at Alibaba's security division.

The technology will significantly reduce the amount of manpower and their workload, Wei added. "For example, if we need to review, say, 400 million images a day, a human appraiser can process 10,000 images per day and 40,000 people are needed. By contrast, the software means human workers only need to review 200,000 images in total, so the total headcount will be lowered to 20 people."

However, AI still cannot replace human workers entirely, Nian Xia, a product specialist at Alibaba's security division said. This is due to the difficulty for machines, compared with humans, to understand implicit messages conveyed by content. The optimal solution is to combine AI with a human reviewer, with the latter serving a supplementary role, Nian added.

Editor: William Clegg