How AI can Break Language Barriers

AI doesn’t speak just one language. It never should. It should speak to, and for, all of us! From the steppes of Mongolia to the villages of India and the ministries of Chile, local AI experts are proving that sovereign, locally useful AI models can flourish even with limited resources. These efforts show that the barriers to multilingual AI can be overcome with creativity, determination, and modest funding. The question now is: how can we support and scale these efforts globally? #Mongolia – Egune AI Very happy to see Bloomberg News highlight Egune AI today, a small startup that built the first Mongolian-language foundation model from scratch. This team made the country 1 of just 8 to develop its own national model. With only $3.5M in local seed funding, they now power over 70% of the nation’s AI market. Their work protects Mongolian language and culture through homegrown AI - a powerful example of what’s possible when communities build for themselves. #India – Bhashini India’s BHASHINI - (Digital India BHASHINI Division) is a government-backed, public–private mission to make AI inclusive for all Indian languages. Launched under the National Language Translation Mission, Bhashini supports over 35 languages through an open-source model which provides real-time translation tools in text -to-text, speech-to-text, and video translation services. Through the “Bhasha Daan” crowdsourcing initiative, thousands of people are contributing text, voice and video data and translations to help the AI learn. Bhashini bridges digital gaps across the country and creates datasets for underrepresented languages. It has  already hit 1 billion+ inferences.     #Chile (Latin America) – #LatamGPT Chile is leading a regional push for AI sovereignty through a Spanish-language foundation model called Latam GPT. Under the leadership of my dear friend Minister Aisen Etcheverry, the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation is building a model that reflects Latin America’s own histories, dialects, and values. With support from CENIA and a university-backed supercomputer, the project is advancing on just a few million dollars in funding. The model is designed to be open, adaptable, and shared across countries — “AI by Latin America, for Latin America.”    The call to action: Multilingual AI capacity is often described as a roadblock to universal access. But these efforts prove it doesn’t have to be. 🔹 How do we support and scale grassroots AI infrastructure? 🔹 Can we pool funding, talent, and knowledge to help more countries build their own models? 🔹 What does a global ecosystem look like when every language has a voice in shaping it? #AIforAll #LocalAI #MultilingualAI #Innovation #aipolicy Nick Martin Hugging Face Satwik Mishra Bloomberg News Nick Cain Mary Rodriguez, MBA Mathilde Barge Nagi Otgonshar  Ashwini Vaishnaw S Krishnan Abhishek Singh Tara Chklovski Room to Read Vivian Schiller Aspen Digital

What if someone who doesn't speak your language handled your next customer service call—but you never noticed? Alorica, a customer service company based in California, has introduced an AI-driven translation tool that allows their representatives to communicate with customers in over 200 languages and 75 dialects. This innovation means that a rep who only speaks Spanish could assist a customer in Hong Kong speaking Cantonese. As AI continues to develop, its impact on jobs is a hot topic of debate. While some fear widespread job losses, companies like Alorica are showing that AI can enhance productivity without necessarily cutting jobs. This raises important questions about the future of work in an AI-powered world. 🌍 AI Translation: Alorica's new AI tool allows reps to communicate with customers in over 200 languages, making global service easier. 🛠️ Efficiency Gains: AI is helping companies like Alorica improve call handling times and customer satisfaction instead of reducing jobs. 📈 Job Evolution: AI isn't just about replacing jobs—it's also about transforming them, with new roles emerging as technology advances. 🤝 Human-AI Collaboration: AI tools are proving valuable assistants, especially for newer employees, boosting their productivity. 🔄 Workforce Dynamics: The rise of AI is prompting a shift in job skills and roles, but fears of mass unemployment have yet to materialize. #AI #CustomerService #LanguageTranslation #FutureOfWork #TechInnovation #JobEvolution #AIandJobs 

Welcome to the Future of Fundraising. It’s been said that fundraising is not complicated but it is complex, a sentiment I understand as a former major gift officer. So much needs to go right with each donor for the natural outcome of engagement to be a gift. The right message. The right time. The right ask for each donor. These require experience, time and resources. Virtual Engagement Officers (VEOs) constantly train alongside Innovation Partners to make these complex engagements right. This week, VEOs mastered many rights of fundraising with impressive results. The Right Ask Personalizing asks ensure donor trust and demonstrates you know them as individuals. Whether upgrading gifts, identifying matching opportunities, or guiding them through estate planning, VEOs recognize patterns in donors’ past giving and learn from two-way conversations, adapting to each donor’s preferences. As a result, the VEO projects to raise $200,000 by the end of the year. The Right Message Engaging in conversation is the first step to securing future support. Messages need to resonate with donors to start this journey. Like traditional fundraisers, VEOs source information from an organization’s knowledgebases and fundraising best practices, supplementing this information with context from websites and social media and a high level of personalization. Most importantly, it has a memory of past conversations with the donor. Finding the right message empowers the VEO to communicate with different donors at the same organization about different topics - homecoming, campus departments, institutional research, regional events, philanthropic interests and annual giving all in the same week, just like a traditional fundraiser but faster and at scale. That’s precisely what Scarlet, Illinois Tech’s VEO did this week by thanking a donor for a gift to the women’s soccer team and providing a real-time update on a tournament win and progression to the Sweet 16. The Right Language Fundraising can be limited by language barriers, leaving entire constituencies underserved. Multilingual traditional fundraisers are special resources that can be rare to come by. VEOs don’t have this same barrier. With advanced AI VEOs can engage in Spanish, French, Vietnamese, even Swahili. Donors can finally communicate how they prefer and organizations can bring non-native speakers closer to their missions. This was beautifully executed in a two-way engagement that Texas State University’s Emma initiated with a donor this week. It started in English but the donor responded with preference for Spanish. For the first time ever, Emma autonomously switched languages and the conversation continued seamlessly in Spanish. It’s impossible to do something that’s never been done and get everything right the first time. Autonomous Fundraising is no exception. The magical moments donors are experiencing emphasize that we’re headed in the right direction. Happy Thanksgiving and season of gratitude.