Microsoft has recently introduced a new leg to its earlier initiative; the $125 million “AI for Good” program. The recent expansion is known as AI for Cultural Heritage. The other pillars of the AI for Good program are the AI for Earth, AI for Humanitarian Action, and the AI for Accessibility. This 125 million dollar initiative is based on the noble idea of using artificial intelligence (AI) for the betterment of humanity at large and to help out several disadvantaged societies across the world.
In light of the concerns by the civil societies and cultural heritage protection bodies around the world, Microsoft came up with its latest initiative of AI for Cultural Heritage as a solution. There has been unprecedented cultural erosion, especially when it comes to languages in the contemporary, increasingly globalised world.
As the world comes to be more closely knitted together, there is a proliferation of a so-called global culture. English is predominantly a global language, and the weak and endangered languages struggle to find speakers as most native speakers find it more convenient to switch to English in contemporary times.
Reports by UNESCO highlight that as much as a third of the world’s languages are on the verge of extinction. Most of these have less than 1000 speakers left. This situation is graver than it first seems. A language dying out is not just the loss of the community or that of the native speakers alone, but the cultural heritage of that language is lost to the entire human race forever. With the language goes a significant part of human history that we cannot retrieve.
Microsoft was quick to realise the significance of such a loss and therefore was quick to step forward to help in this noble cause.
In an attempt to save the dying languages and a shared heritage, Microsoft invested an additional $10 million into its AI for Good initiative, creating a new pillar of the larger initiative. The AI for Cultural Heritage program will be working closely with universities, NGOs, and governments to conserve endangered languages, location-based artefacts, and other details.
So far, positive developments have come out of their efforts in Southwest Mexico, where it leveraged AI to translate and conserve Yucatec Mayan languages. In New York, AI technology was used to enhance the open-access collection capacity of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In Paris, AI was utilized to create a unique mixed reality experience which brought the Mont-Saint-Michel from the Normandy coast into the Musée des Plans-Reliefs in Paris.
Microsoft is driven by its core values and a firm belief in the significance of preserving cultural heritage. The organisation believes that it is not just something “nice” or socially responsible to do, but is absolutely vital for the well being of the human race.
