{"id":52199,"date":"2025-09-03T22:15:46","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T02:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/lost-in-translation-how-africa-is-trying-to-close-the-ai-language-gap\/03\/09\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T22:15:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T02:15:46","slug":"lost-in-translation-how-africa-is-trying-to-close-the-ai-language-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/lost-in-translation-how-africa-is-trying-to-close-the-ai-language-gap\/03\/09\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost in translation &#8211; How Africa is trying to close the AI language gap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Although Africa is home to a huge proportion of the world&#8217;s languages \u2013 well over a quarter according to some estimates &#8211; many are missing when it comes to the development of AI.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This is both an issue of a lack of investment and readily available data.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Most AI tools, such as Chat GPT, used today are trained on English as well as other European and Chinese languages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">These have vast quantities of online text to draw from.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But as many African languages are mostly spoken rather than written down, there is a lack of text to train AI on to make it useful for speakers of those languages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For millions across the continent this means being left out.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>&#8220;We think in our own languages, dream in them and interpret the world through them. If technology doesn&#8217;t reflect that, a whole group risks being left behind&#8221;&#8221;, Source: Vukosi Marivathe, Source description: Professor of Computer Science, University of Pretoria, Image: A head shot of Vukosi Marivathe. He has short hair and is smiling.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Researchers who have been trying to address this issue have recently released what is thought to be the largest known dataset of African languages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We think in our own languages, dream in them and interpret the world through them. If technology doesn&#8217;t reflect that, a whole group risks being left behind,&#8221; the University of Pretoria&#8217;s Prof Vukosi Marivathe, who worked on the project, tells the BBC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We&#8217;re going through this AI revolution, imagining all that can be done with it. Now imagine there&#8217;s a part of the population that just doesn&#8217;t have that access because all the information is in English.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Africa Next Voices project brought together linguists and computer scientists to create AI-ready datasets in 18 African languages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">That may just be a small portion of the more than 2,000 languages estimated to be spoken across the continent but those involved in the project say they hope to expand in the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In two years, the team recorded 9,000 hours of speech across Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, capturing everyday scenarios in farming, health and education.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The languages recorded included Kikuyu and Dholuo in Kenya, Hausa and Yoruba in Nigeria and isiZulu and Tshivenda in South Africa, some of which are spoken by millions of people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;You need some basis to start off with and that&#8217;s what Africa Next Voices is and then people will build on top of that and add their own innovations,&#8221; says Prof Marivathe, who led the research in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">His Kenyan counterpart, computational linguist Lilian Wanzare, says recording the speech on the continent meant creating data aimed at reflecting how people really live and speak.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We gathered voices from different regions, ages and backgrounds so it&#8217;s as inclusive as possible. Big tech can&#8217;t always see those nuances,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The project was made possible by a $2.2m (\u00a31.6m) Gates Foundation grant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The data will be open access, allowing developers to build tools that translate, transcribe and respond in African languages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">There are already small examples of how indigenous languages used in AI can be used to solve real-life challenges in Africa, according to Prof Marivathe.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Kelebogile Mosime walking through a field with green cops. Two farmworkers can be seen behind her spraying the crops.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/AjTPgzdy6BWcxrdPZH8zag--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/954a63284b57ef907cd526be90ac5ae7\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Kelebogile Mosime has spent the last three years building a successful farming business [BBC]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Farmer Kelebogile Mosime manages a 21-hectare site in Rustenburg, the heart of South Africa&#8217;s platinum region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The 45-year-old works with a small team to cultivate rows of vegetables \u2013 including beans, spinach, cauliflower and tomatoes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">She only began three years ago, with a cabbage crop, and to help she uses an app called AI-Farmer, which recognises several South African languages, including Sesotho, isiZulu and Afrikaans, to help solve various problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;As someone still learning to farm, you face a lot of challenges,&#8221; Ms Mosime says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Daily, I see the benefits of being able to use my home language Setswana on the app when I run into problems on the farm, I ask anything and get a useful answer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;For somebody in the rural areas like me who is not exposed to technology it&#8217;s useful. I can ask about different options for insect control, it&#8217;s also been useful with diagnosing sick plants,&#8221; she beams underneath a wide-brim sunhat.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"&quot;English is the language of opportunity. For many South Africans who don't speak it, it's not just inconvenient \u2013 it can mean missing out on essential services&quot;&quot;, Source: Pelonomi Moiloa, Source description: CEO, Lelapa AI, Image: A head shot of Pelonomi Moiloa. She is staring at the camera and wearing a black jumper. \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"920\" height=\"792\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/UmeIiZqLtNo0o9pIUmo6Hg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTgyNjtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/37eb2ed57d59bd080a082df41a33cc2f\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>&#8220;English is the language of opportunity. For many South Africans who don&#8217;t speak it, it&#8217;s not just inconvenient \u2013 it can mean missing out on essential services&#8221;&#8221;, Source: Pelonomi Moiloa, Source description: CEO, Lelapa AI, Image: A head shot of Pelonomi Moiloa. She is staring at the camera and wearing a black jumper. <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Lelapa AI is a young South African company building AI tools in African languages for banks and telecoms firms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For its CEO Pelonomi Moiloa, what is currently available is very restrictive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;English is the language of opportunity. For many South Africans who don&#8217;t speak it, it&#8217;s not just inconvenient \u2013 it can mean missing out on essential services like healthcare, banking or even government support,&#8221; she tells the BBC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Language can be a huge barrier. We&#8217;re saying it shouldn&#8217;t be.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But this is more than being about business and convenience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For Prof Marivathe there is also a danger that without African language initiatives, something else could be lost<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Language is access to imagination,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It&#8217;s not just words \u2013 it&#8217;s history, culture, knowledge. If indigenous languages aren&#8217;t included, we lose more than data; we lose ways of seeing and understanding the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">You may also be interested in:<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News Africa\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"295\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/X.EL2n7fcUDVmgCDCHEGmA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTI5NTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/c7a608b642136b2879dce57f6fb5d461\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>[Getty Images\/BBC]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Go to <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/bbcafrica.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:BBCAfrica.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>BBCAfrica.com<\/em><\/a><em> for more news from the African continent.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Follow us on Twitter <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBCAfrica\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:@BBCAfrica;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>@BBCAfrica<\/em><\/a><em>, on Facebook at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BBCnewsafrica\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:BBC Africa;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>BBC Africa<\/em><\/a><em> or on Instagram at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bbcafrica\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:bbcafrica;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>bbcafrica<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">BBC Africa podcasts<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/lost-translation-africa-trying-close-002818925.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although Africa is home to a huge proportion of the world&rsquo;s languages &ndash; well over a quarter according to some estimates &ndash;<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/lost-in-translation-how-africa-is-trying-to-close-the-ai-language-gap\/03\/09\/2025\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/XIIWRpMBGP8pBw_tKbDE.Q--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD02NzU7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/9ed4028d08e172c03b0c552bf5972b9a","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}