Digitising Kannada: A work in progress
A researcher highlights the limitations of machine translation for the Kannada language, citing an instance where an AI tool incorrectly translated a positive sentiment into a violent command. This underscores the ongoing challenges in digitizing and accurately localizing regional languages.
Why it matters
It illustrates the risks of AI bias and translation errors in non-English languages, which can have significant social consequences.
C.S. Yogananda, founder of Sriranga Digital Software Technologies, remembers a funny instance of coming across a post on X around two years ago. Originally written in Kannada, the post, after machine translation, took on an entirely different meaning.
In Kannada, he wrote ‘ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡಿದವರನ್ನ ಮರೀಬಾರ್ದು ( Sahaya madidavaranna mareebardu) , which translates to ‘One should not forget those who helped’. X’s default translation in 2024-25 read, “Kill those who helped you.”
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