Amid elections, Wikipedia relies on Indian AI for regional content translation

As India approaches the final phase of its mega general elections, innovative machine translation tools are revolutionising the landscape of information dissemination which ensures Indian voters receive accurate and timely information in multiple languages.

Wikimedia Foundation's Machine in Translation (MinT) along with IIT Madras’s AI4Bharat IndicTrans2 has been taking the lead in this process. AI4Bharat at IIT Madras is an initiative that focuses on building open-source language AI for Indian languages, including datasets, models etc.

MinT, integrated with the Indian AI tool, supports Wikipedia editors in translating content into over 250 languages, including 22 languages in India, making it one of the biggest translation systems online. This integration simplifies the translation process, empowering Wikipedia's global volunteer editor base of 265,000 to ensure the accessibility of reliable information.

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Principal Designer at the Wikimedia Foundation, Pau Giner, highlights the significance of these tools in democratising access to information. He said, "The Wikimedia Foundation’s vision is a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge."

IndicTrans2, developed by AI4Bharat, enhances translation quality for Indian languages, covering all 22 scheduled languages of India, many of which lack support from any other translation services. "The integration of the IndicTrans2 system will not just help increase contributions in Indian languages on Wikipedia, but it will also help improve the quality of machine translations available in these local languages," notes Pau Giner.

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One notable success story is the Santali language Wikipedia, which has experienced an increase in content creation since the deployment of AI tools, leading to an overall increase of 30% in the number of articles.

Amidst the election fervour, AI has emerged as a key tool in misinformation and disinformation campaigns. Deep fake videos and false content targeting public figures like Bollywood stars, cricketers, politicians, and even journalists have been a significant challenge. However, AI-driven solutions are helping to verify information online.