Hello Language Lovers! In this episode of Speaking Tongues, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Albert Ventayol, a computational linguist dedicated to bridging the gap between indigenous and low-resource languages and technology. With a Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara, Albert is currently on assignment at Meta, where he is working towards achieving omnilinguality in AI-powered automatic speech recognition (ASR) and machine translation (MT).
Albert shares his fascinating journey through the world of languages, beginning with his upbringing in a multilingual family where Catalan, Spanish, and English were spoken. His passion for languages led him to explore various linguistic landscapes, including Polish, Russian, Yukaghir languages, and Welsh, and to study the complexities of language identity and power dynamics.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The significance of computational linguistics in preserving and promoting low-resource languages.
- Albert's experiences learning and teaching languages, and how they shaped his understanding of linguistic diversity.
- The impact of technology on indigenous languages and the potential for AI to aid in language revitalization efforts.
- The challenges of building language technology that serves all languages equitably.
- Albert's current work at Meta and the exciting projects aimed at supporting multilingual communities.
Big thank you to Albert for sharing his insights and experiences with us. If you enjoyed this episode of Speaking Tongues, please subscribe, rate, and review the Speaking Tongues Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Don’t forget to like and subscribe on YouTube to help other language lovers discover the show! You can also support the podcast on Buy Me a Coffee or Patreon, and check out my food 'zine, Taste Buds Vol 1., available for purchase now! Links to all platforms are below!
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