Connect with us

Telecom

Meta’s AI Machine Translation Research Helps Break Language Barriers

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Meta has announced that it has built and open sourced ‘No Language Left Behind’ NLLB-200, a single AI model that is the first to translate across 200 different languages, including 55 African languages with state-of-the-art results.

Meta is using the modelling techniques and learnings from the project to improve and extend translations on Facebook, Instagram, and Wikipedia.

In an effort to develop high-quality machine translation capabilities for most of the world’s low-resource languages, this single AI model was designed with a focus on African languages. They are challenging from a machine translation perspective.

AI models require lots and lots of data to help them learn, and there’s not a lot of human translated training data for these languages. For example, there’s more than 20M people who speak and write in Luganda but examples of this written language are extremely difficult to find on the internet.

We worked with professional translators for each of these languages to develop a reliable benchmark which can automatically assess translation quality for many low-resource languages. We also work with professional translators to do human evaluation too, meaning people who speak the languages natively evaluate what the AI produced.

The reality is that a handful of languages dominate the web, so only a fraction of the world can access content and contribute to the web in their own language.

We want to change this by creating more inclusive machine translations systems – ones that unlock access to the web for the more than 4B people around the world that are currently excluded because they do not speak one of the few languages content is available in.

“It’s impressive how much AI is improving all of our services. We just open-sourced an AI model we built that can translate across 200 different languages — many of which aren’t supported by current translation systems.

“We call this project No Language Left Behind, and the AI modelling techniques we used are helping make high quality translations for languages spoken by billions of people around the world.

“To give a sense of the scale, the 200-language model has over 50 billion parameters, and we trained it using our new Research SuperCluster, which is one of the world’s fastest AI supercomputers.

“The advances here will enable more than 25 billion translations every day across our apps. Communicating across languages is one superpower that AI provides, but as we keep advancing our AI work it’s improving everything we do — from showing the most interesting content on Facebook and Instagram, to recommending more relevant ads, to keeping our services safe for everyone.,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a post on his Facebook profile.

Language is our culture, identity, and lifeline to the world. However, as high-quality translation tools don’t exist for hundreds of languages, billions of people today can’t access digital content or participate fully in conversations and communities online in their preferred or native languages. This is especially true for hundreds of millions of people who speak the many languages of Africa.

“Africa is a continent with very high linguistic diversity, and language barriers exist day to day. We are pleased to announce that 55 African languages will be included in this machine translation research, making it a major breakthrough for our continent,” Balkissa Ide Siddo, Public Policy Director for Africa said while speaking about the launch of the AI model.

“In the future, imagine visiting your favourite Facebook group, coming across a post in Igbo or Luganda, and being able to understand it in your own language with just a click of a button – that’s where we hope research like this leads us.

“Highly accurate translations in more languages could also help to spot harmful content and misinformation, protect election integrity, and curb instances of online sexual exploitation and human trafficking.”

While commenting on accessibility and inclusion in the pursuit of building an equitable metaverse, Ide Siddo added “At Meta, we are working today to ensure that as many people as possible will be able to access the new educational, social and economic opportunities that the next evolution of the internet will bring to future technology and an everyday living experience tomorrow.”

To confirm that the translations are high quality, Meta also created a new evaluation dataset, FLORES-200, and measured NLLB-200’s performance in each language. Results revealed that NLLB-200 exceeds the previous state of the art by an average of 44 percent.

Meta is also open-sourcing the NLLB-200 model and publishing a slew of research tools to enable other researchers to extend this work to more languages and build more inclusive technologies. Meta AI is also providing up to $200,000 of grants to non-profit organizations for real world applications for NLLB-200.

There are versions of Wikipedia in more than 300 languages, but most have far fewer articles than the 6+ million available in English. Following Meta’s partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that hosts Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, modelling techniques and learnings from the NLLB research are now also being applied to translation systems used by Wikipedia editors.

Using the Wikimedia Foundation’s Content Translation Tool, articles can now be easily translated in more than 20 low-resource languages (those that don’t have extensive datasets to train AI systems), including 10 that previously were not supported by any machine translation tools on the platform.


Kindly share this post

Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

Telecom

MTN Nigeria Expands Digital Offerings with Audiomack+ Music Subscription

Published

on

Kindly share this post

MTN Nigeria, a leading ICT company, has partnered with Audiomack, a renowned music streaming platform, to introduce the Audiomack+ subscription program.

This strategic collaboration provides MTN subscribers with seamless access to premium Audiomack content, uninterrupted streaming, offline downloads, and exclusive features through convenient mobile payment options.

Audiomack+ offers three flexible subscription plans, enabling subscribers to discover emerging artists, underground music, and community-driven playlists. Music lovers can enjoy, Month Pass (N900/month): 30-day free trial + uninterrupted streaming, Week Pass (N400/week): Affordable weekly subscription and Day Pass (N100/day): Daily access to premium content.

“This partnership with Audiomack reinforces our commitment to delivering value-added services to our customers,” said A’isha Mumuni, Chief Digital Officer of MTN Nigeria.

“We’re excited to offer our subscribers an easy and affordable way to access premium music content, empowering them to explore new music and support their favorite artists.”

David Ponte, Audiomack Co-Founder and CMO, added, “Our partnership with MTN Nigeria brings us closer to making music accessible to everyone.

“With Audiomack+, we’re proud to offer affordable premium streaming options, providing users in Nigeria with the best music experience possible.”

To subscribe to the Audiomack+ monthly plan, text APM to 3134 or visit Audiomack+ Month Pass. Alternatively, customers can text APW to 3134 or text APD to 3134 for weekly or daily subscriptions.

Through its strategic partnership with music streaming platforms, MTN Nigeria reinforces its commitment to providing enhanced and innovative digital experiences to customers.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Telecom

FG Hopeful Thuraya’s Relaunch in Nigeria Will Boost Fight against Insecurity, Others

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Thuraya, a leading provider of satellite communication solutions, has officially relaunched its services in Nigeria, a move the federal government hope will help in the fight against insecurity, illegal mining and oil thefts in the country.

FG Hopeful Thuraya’s Relaunch in Nigeria Will Boost Fight against Insecurity, Others

Tsat Telecommunication, Thuraya’s local service partner, spearheaded the relaunch by implementing comprehensive strategies to enhance service delivery across Nigeria.

As part of this effort, the company partnered with system integrators Cypod Solutions and Niflink, who played critical roles in ensuring the successful integration of Thuraya’s advanced satellite services into the local market.

With this relaunch, Thuraya aims to provide more reliable and accessible communication options for businesses and individuals across Nigeria, addressing the growing demand for robust satellite solutions in remote and underserved areas.

This development is expected to have a significant impact on sectors such as oil and gas, agriculture, and disaster management, where seamless communication is vital for operational efficiency.

At the event Dr Bosun Tijani, minister of Communication, Innovations and Digital Economy, expressed hope that the launch of Thuraya communication products and services will help in the fight against insecurity, illegal mining and oil thefts in the country.

The minister who was represented by Engr Farouk Yusuf, permanent secretary of the ministry, said, beyond helping in expanding the country’s broadband penetration to hinterland and hard-to-reach areas, the formal entry of Thuraya satellite communications services will help security forces in combating criminalities bedevilling the country.

“Of course, Thuraya’s solutions will not only enhance broadband access but also provide critical communication tools such as can be used in security, agriculture and disaster management, as we mentioned in previous presentations.

“We expect Thuraya’s satellite products and services to play a critical role in addressing Nigeria’s ongoing security challenges through a deliberate action.

He, however, said that while the country is thrilled with the coming of Thuraya, Nigeria expects the firm to take deliberate actions and efforts in ensuring that the partnership brings value to the country.

Earlier, Alhaji Abba Sani Abdullahi, chairman and chief executive officer of TSAT, expressed delight over the partnership that saw the re-entry of Thuraya onto the Nigerian market.

Also speaking, Faisal Mohammed Ahmed, vice president, Tech and Sale of Thuraya,  said the company has range of telecommunications and satellite assets that will boost the country’s digital landscape and also help in tackling security problems.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Telecom

Toyota Prado, Kia Cars, Generators, Other Items on Offer as Glo Festival of Joy Begins

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Customers of digital solutions provider, Globacom, are in for an exciting Yuletide season as the company is set to give out exquisite cars and other prizes in a new season of its customer-loyalty reward promo, Festival of Joy.

Globacom, in a press statement issued in Lagos, noted that it has chosen to put smiles on customers’ faces by   spending huge sums on prizes at a time other companies are cutting costs owing to the prevailing economic situation.

The mouth-watering prizes   include Toyota Prado, 5 Kia Picanto cars, 15 tricycles, 150 power generating sets, 200 sewing machines and 300 grinding machines as the promo kicks off   on October 1 and will run until January 31, 2025.

Globacom explained that Festival of Joy promotion was launched in accordance with its commitment to empowering Glo subscribers as the festive season approaches. The prizes, it explained, were carefully selected to appeal to all categories of customers including high net-worth individuals (HNIs), professionals, business men and women, workers and students.

“Nigerians in all parts of the country have a chance to win any of the amazing items on offer as prize-presentation events will be held in several cities across the country including Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Benin, and Warri,” Globacom explained.

Furthermore, new and existing customers on both the prepaid and the postpaid platforms are eligible to participate in the promo, the company added, saying “All a customer is required to do is to opt into the promo by dialing *611#, select the prize he or she is aiming for and recharge up to the required amount for the particular item to qualify for the draw.”

To become a proud winner of a Prado jeep, a customer is required to recharge up to N100,000 cumulatively during the promo period to qualify for the draw, while for the Kia Picanto, a customer needs to make a N50,000 cumulative recharge during the period.

Any customer who wishes to win a tricycle should recharge up to N10,000 cumulatively in a month, just as N5,000 total recharge in a month will qualify the customer to win a generator; N2,500 in a month for sewing machine and N500 in a day to qualify   for the draw for grinding machines.

Said Globacom, “All recharge types – physical and electronic – count towards the qualification. The higher the recharge amount, the higher the chances of winning.”

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending