Meta touts AI that translates spoken-only language

Meta on Wednesday said that it built an artificial intelligence system that translates Hokkien into English even though the Taiwanese language lacks a standard written form.

The Silicon Valley tech titan that owns Facebook and Instagram billed the work at its Universal Speech Translator project as an effort to enable users from around the world to socialize regardless of the languages they speak.

When Facebook renamed itself as Meta a year ago, co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg said the company was focusing on a shift to online life playing out in virtual realms, a concept referred to as the metaverse.

"Spoken communications can help break down barriers and bring people together wherever they are located -- even in the metaverse," Meta said in a blog post.

The fledgling system for translating Hokkien was billed by Meta as the first artificial intelligence-powered "speech-to-speech translation system developed for an unwritten language."

The translation technology, which the tech firm said will be shared for others to use, allows someone speaking Hokkien to converse with someone who speaks English, but only with one full sentence at a time, according to Meta.

"It's a step toward a future where simultaneous translation between languages is possible," Meta said.

"The techniques we pioneered with Hokkien can be extended to many other unwritten languages and eventually will work in real time."

Hokkien is widely spoken within the Chinese diaspora. It is used 16 million people across Asia and is spoken by three quarters of the population of Taiwan, according to the French National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations.

But the language lacks a standard written form, making it a challenge to train AI models how to interpret what is said, according to Meta.

More than 40 percent of the world's 7,000 existing languages are primarily spoken, without a standard or widely known written form, the tech firm said.

"In the future, all languages, whether written or unwritten, may no longer be an obstacle to mutual understanding," Meta said.

Related Links
All about the robots on Earth and beyond!

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Exoskeleton to enhance safety, retention for aerial porters, others
Wright-Patterson AFB OH (SPX) Oct 19, 2022
Aerial porters are responsible for the management and movement of passengers and cargo transported through airlift. And the cargo these aerial porter teams load and unload can range from large pallets of equipment, gear and food to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System trucks, Abrams tanks and more. So imagine not just the individual strength and conditioning required of each porter to move weight of this magnitude, but also the number of porters required for various miss ... read more