A Comprehensive Artificial Intelligence Translation Tool

Extensive Translation Options for Broader Inclusivity

With over 20,000 articles available on their site, The Canadian Encyclopedia provides an essential resource to many. As such, they wanted to expand their language capabilities and accommodate visitors who speak languages other than English and French.

As part of the solution, a new open-source package called polyglot was created. This provided a simple interface for working with multiple translation APIs, such as Google, Amazon, and OpenAI. The custom tool accesses existing machine translation services (NLP) and performs on-demand translations of any articles into 30+ languages.

Ensuring an Adaptable and Future-Proof Solution

As this was our first half of a larger project consisting of AI and machine learning tools, there was a lot to consider and learn throughout the process. We were successfully able to keep the project within budget while delivering a secure and adaptable solution to the client.

A key part of this adaptability lies in the tool’s ability to seamlessly support multiple translation services. With a built-in fallback mechanism, if the default provider fails to respond in time, the tool automatically switches to an alternative, maintaining smooth operation.

This multi-service approach allows us to easily switch between providers and pick the most cost effective option. In fact, this occurred during the project as Google’s strict attribution requirements lead us to switch to Amazon’s translation services as the default provider.

Whether it is to reduce costs or even add unsupported languages, the polyglot package allows for integration if the need should arise.

A Collaborative Approach to Design and Testing

The Canadian Encyclopedia team wanted to provide access to the site in as many languages as possible. However, translating the whole site so many times over would not be possible. Machine learning, however, allowed us to integrate the capability in a seamless manner.

While the editorial team previously lacked the resources to translate their articles beyond the two official languages, the tool provides consistent quality translations across all articles.

This provides The Canadian Encyclopedia with control over available languages on each article and offers a feedback mechanism to track user experience on the feature.

As such, the client is given autonomy over their own implementation of the tool. Additionally, it allows staff with knowledge of certain languages to review and verify the accuracy of the automated translation independently.