How your phone may soon be able to tell if you're over the limit

Recording a quick voice memo could soon tell you whether you're over the limit.

Melbourne researchers are using artificial intelligence to analyse audio waves of people who've had too much to drink, in the hope it's an early indicator of when to slow down.

Researchers from Latrobe University are currently working on something faster than a blood test or a breathalyser.

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More than 12,000 audio recordings from Germany of sober and less sober people were input into an algorithm with artificial intelligence then trying to distinguish whether the voices are over the legal limit or not.

At the moment it's about 68 per cent accurate but the more data, the smarter the AI becomes.

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"We are on a good way it's a kind of proof of concept that it's possible," Professor Emmanuel Kuntsche told 9News.

The next step is for the tech to be tested with Aussie voices.

Researchers say several years down the track, if it works, it could once day be put into an app to give people an early indicator of their intoxication levels before they make decisions like getting behind the wheel.

For those committed to reducing the number of drunk drivers on Australian roads, it's a move in the right direction.

"Whether it's technology or education or behaviour change, if it can save one life, absolutely," Annie Trainor, Director of Drink Drive Victoria told told 9News.

"As long as people are getting the message, it doesn't matter where it comes from."