{"id":104141,"date":"2019-11-21T14:24:47","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T14:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=435360"},"modified":"2019-11-21T14:24:47","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T14:24:47","slug":"microsoft-translator-to-recognize-new-zealands-maori-language-allowing-it-to-be-preserved-for-generations-to-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/11\/21\/microsoft-translator-to-recognize-new-zealands-maori-language-allowing-it-to-be-preserved-for-generations-to-come\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Translator to recognize New Zealand\u2019s M\u0101ori language, allowing it to be preserved for generations to come"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There are close to 7,000 languages spoken around the world today. Yet, sadly, every two weeks a language dies with its last speaker, and it is predicted that between 50% and 90%<\/a> of endangered languages will disappear by next century. When a community loses a language, it loses its connection to the past \u2013 and part of its present. It loses a piece of its identity. As we think about protecting this heritage and the importance of preserving language, we believe that new technology can help.<\/p>\n

More than many nations, the people of New Zealand are acutely aware of this phenomenon. Centuries ago, the M\u0101ori people arrived on the islands to settle in and create a new civilization. Through the centuries and in the isolation of the South Pacific, the M\u0101ori developed their own unique culture and language. Today, in New Zealand, 15% of the population is M\u0101ori yet only a quarter of the M\u0101ori people speak their native language, and only 3% of all people living in New Zealand speak te reo Maori. Statistically, fluency in the language is extremely low.<\/p>\n

New Zealand and its institutions have taken notice and are actively taking steps to promote the use of te reo M\u0101ori in meaningful ways. More and more schools are teaching te reo M\u0101ori, and city councils are revitalizing the country\u2019s indigenous culture by giving new, non-colonial names to sites around their cities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has promoted the learning of te reo M\u0101ori, calling for 1 million new speakers by 2040.  In a simple, yet profound, statement Ardern said, \u201cM\u0101ori language is a part of who we are.\u201d Despite all these efforts, today the fluency in te reo M\u0101ori is low.<\/p>\n

For the past 14 years, Microsoft has been collaborating with te reo M\u0101ori experts and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo M\u0101ori<\/a> (the M\u0101ori Language Commission) to weave te reo M\u0101ori into the technology that thousands of Kiwis use every day with the goal of ensuring it remains a living language with a strong future. Our collaboration has already resulted in translations of Minecraft educational resources and we recently commissioned a game immersed entirely in the traditional M\u0101ori world, Ng\u0101 Motu<\/a> (The Islands).<\/p>\n

To focus only on shaping the future ignores the value of the past, as well as our responsibility to preserve and celebrate te reo M\u0101ori heritage. This is why we are proud to announce the inclusion of te reo M\u0101ori as a language officially recognized in our free Microsoft Translator app. Microsoft Translator supports more than 60 languages, and this means that the free application can translate te reo M\u0101ori text into English text and vice versa. It will also support M\u0101ori into and from all other languages supported by Microsoft Translator. This is really all about breaking the language barrier at home, at work, anywhere you need it.<\/p>\n

Dr. Te Taka Keegan, senior lecturer of computer science at the University of Waikato and one of the many local experts who have helped guide the project from its inception, says: \u201cThe language we speak is the heart of our culture. The development of this M\u0101ori language tool would not have been possible without many people working towards a common goal over many years. We hope our work doesn\u2019t simply help revitalize and normalize te reo M\u0101ori for future generations of New Zealanders, but enables it to be shared, learned and valued around the world. It\u2019s very important for me that the technology we use reflects and reinforces our cultural heritage, and language is the heart of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Te reo M\u0101ori will employ Microsoft\u2019s Neural Machine Translation (NMT) techniques, which can be more accurate than statistical translation models. We recently achieved human parity<\/a> in translating news from Chinese to English, and the advanced machine learning used for te reo M\u0101ori will continue to become better and better as even more documents are used to \u201cteach\u201d it every nuance of the language. This technology will be leveraged across all our M365 products and services.<\/p>\n

But while the technology is exciting, it\u2019s not the heart of this story. This is about collaborating to develop the tools that boost our collective well-being. New Zealand\u2019s government is also spearheading a \u201cwell-being\u201d framework<\/a> for measuring a nation\u2019s progress in ways that don\u2019t solely reflect economic growth. We need to look at cultural heritage the same way. Preserving our cultural heritage isn\u2019t just a \u201cnice thing to do\u201d \u2013 according to the U.N<\/a>., it\u2019s vital to our resilience, social cohesion and sense of belonging, celebrating the values and stories we have in common.<\/p>\n

I was fortunate to visit New Zealand this year, and it is a country that is genuinely working to achieve a delicate cultural balance, one that keeps in mind growth as well as guardianship, which maintains innovation and a future focus whilst preserving a deep reverence for its past. This kind of balance is something all nations should be striving for.<\/p>\n

Globally, as part of our AI for Cultural Heritage program<\/a>, Microsoft has committed $10 million over five years to support projects dedicated to the preservation and enrichment of cultural heritage that leverage the power of artificial intelligence. The ultimate role of technology is to serve humankind, not to replace it. We can harness the latest tools in ways that support an environment rich in diversity, perspectives and learnings from the past. And when we enable that knowledge and experience to be shared with the rest of the world, every society benefits.<\/p>\n

For more information on Microsoft Translator please visit: https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/translator<\/a><\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h8-0g0rlhKM]<\/p>\n

Tags: AI<\/a>, AI for Cultural Heritage<\/a>, AI for Good<\/a>, language<\/a>, M365<\/a>, Maori<\/a>, microsoft translator<\/a>, neural machine translation<\/a>, New Zealand<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are close to 7,000 languages spoken around the world today. Yet, sadly, every two weeks a language dies with its last speaker, and it is predicted that between 50% and 90% of endangered languages will disappear by next century. When a community loses a language, it loses its connection to the past \u2013 and part of its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[181,50],"class_list":["post-104141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-microsoft-translator","tag-recent-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}