With the world becoming increasingly more connected, technology is at the forefront of globalization. Technology has the power to break down many of the language barriers that exist between different cultures and countries, greatly improving the ability for communication and exchange of ideas. However, while there are currently 7,000 to 8,000 languages actively spoken around the world, only a fraction of these benefit from modern language technologies like voice-to-text transcription, automatic captioning, instantaneous translation, and voice recognition.

In response to this reality, Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a plan to expand the number of languages with automatic speech recognition tools available to them. The initiative hopes to increase the number of languages with access to these technologies from around 200 to potentially 2,000. This expansion would enable people from a wider range of countries and languages to benefit from advances in language technology and connect with new people across the globe.

While the challenge is great, the potential payoffs from the project are even greater. Not only would this project enable people of different backgrounds to connect, it would also open up the possibility for students and researchers to learn about other languages, gain insight into new cultures, and discover new ways of approaching and solving challenging problems.

Ultimately, with the right data and resources, Carnegie Mellon University’s ambitious project could revolutionize how we communicate with each other and connect people from different language backgrounds. We cannot wait to see the results!