A new artificial intelligence platform has been unveiled by Telkom, in collaboration with Enlabeler
A new artificial intelligence (AI) platform that translates speech into text from English and local languages, has a unique ability to interpret South African accents. The technology could have a far-reaching impact on education, health and business sectors.
The platform, called izwe.ai, was officially launched by Telkom, in collaboration with Enlabeler at the AI Expo Africa 2021, recognised as the largest business-focused AI, robotic process automation and Fourth Industrial Revolution trade event in Africa.
The platform offers transcription and translation across a range of languages, as well as a number of text classification and entity extraction services. Applications include academic and legal transcription, contact centre transcription and analysis and media production services, such as providing subtitles and captions to existing audio.
Izwe.ai is a collaboration between Telkom and data-labelling organisation Enlabeler, who joined forces to create a new platform based on language and speech services. Both companies saw a growing demand for such services, especially as international organisations were not set-up to service the African market.
In the education sector, the platform aims to deliver local-language transcription that gives all learners equal access to learning material, helping to close the inequality gaps in South Africa’s education system. The technology also provides deep text analysis of transcribed content, which can enhance understanding.
“izwe.ai could transform the lives of learners from disadvantaged communities by making education in science, technology, English and maths (STEM) fields easier to grasp – for both students, and teachers,” says Telkom Foundation CEO Sarah Mthintso.
“STEM subjects are the foundation for the careers of the future, but to truly drive digital transformation in South Africa, we need learners to be able to learn in their home language,” says Mthintso. “That’s where AI-driven speech services are so important.”
The service is designed to offer continuous improvement by means of its machine-learning foundation, and Enlabeler’s “Humans in the Loop” transcription and translation capabilities. Telkom head of Innovation Dr Mmaki Jantjies says the izwe.ai technology will help advance Telkom’s vision of becoming the primary provider of speech services for African languages in broad commercial applications.
“This technology can be a game changer in business, as well as education, government and healthcare delivery,” she says. “For businesses in a work-from-home environment, retail, customer service and internal communication are increasingly digital,” said Jantjies. “So there is a growing need for AI-driven services, such as those provided by izwe.ai.”