In Africa, rescuing the languages that Western tech ignores

By MATT O’BRIEN and CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Computers have become amazingly precise at translating spoken words to text messages and scouring huge troves of data for answers to complex questions – as long as you speak English or another of the world’s dominant languages. Try talking to your phone in Yoruba, Igbo or any number of widely spoken African languages and you’ll find glitches that can hinder access to information and other benefits of the global tech economy. Tech giants don’t have a great track record of making their language technology work well outside the wealthiest markets, with harmful consequences. Some African researchers are trying to change that.