By Nnamdi Odumody
A Nigerian software developer Emmanuel Gabriel has created an AI platform which can translate over 2,000 African languages.
OB Translate uses deep learning neural network to translate over a 1,000 African languages seamlessly and on demand. It also uses human knowledge to teach the platform and helps in some cases with content moderation for customers.
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This service will help in eradicating the communication barriers in Africa, enabling seamless cross border trade across the continent to unlock opportunities which is in line with the African Union’s goal of economic integration by creating a single market. The productive and services sector will be able to trade their goods and services across a common economic market of $2.5 trillion without language barriers by utilizing this platform.
Translating human languages is one of the things we have experienced that AI is not only well suited for, but quite good at too. Services like Google Translate have demonstrated over the years that it is quite possible, as they get better, that the role of human text translators could be reduced. However, what has been missing has been the translation of African languages.
This is the part that Gabriel believes OBTranslate can make a difference. The AI powered platform also hires and pays Africans with knowledge of their native languages to perform tasks language related tasks on OBTranslate and earn money.
“Our machine language, AI algorithms with neural network connections have curated billions of tasks waiting for Africans who can teach our machine their local dialect. The first phase of the project comes with 9 billion tasks, and the 2nd phase comes with 12 billion tasks. It is projected to hire about 100 million Africans, with a projection of US$3.6 billion passive income for Africans with the capacity,” said Gabriel.
OB Translate machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms have curated over 9 billion accurate tasks which can be translated in over 2,000 African languages with its neural network. Its goal is to break the language communication barriers in rural and urban areas in Africa
Google Translate which also uses AI in translating languages lacks the expertise in translating African languages fluently. This is the void OB Translate wants to fill and explains why it hires and pays Africans who are fluent in their indigenous languages to perform language related tasks on its platform and earn money.
The first phase of tasks which it has curated for Africans to train its AI in their local dialects is 9 billion tasks while the second phase is 12 billion tasks, and is projected to create 100 million jobs by hiring Africans with $3.6 billion to be earned by those with capacity in language fluency.
OB Translate’s platform will enable an augmented future where self driving cars, smartphones and wearables, robots, sensors and other wireless communication technologies can communicate and interact with Africans in their local languages.