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| Simon Lee, CEO of Flitto, gives a lecture during the Corea Image Communication Institution's (CICI) forum at the French ambassador's residence in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of CICI |
By Dong Sun-hwa
The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in translation is becoming more important in the metaverse where people across the world can join and communicate, says Simon Lee, CEO of translation service provider, Flitto.
But he disagreed with the view that AI may replace human translators.
"The role of AI in translating different languages has gotten bigger as more people interact with each other on metaverse without meeting face-to-face," Lee, whose Korean name is Lee Jung-soo, said during a lecture on Tuesday at the French ambassador's official residence in Seoul. The lecture was part of the Corea Image Communication Institution's (CICI) Korea CQ Forum, which intends to bring together opinion leaders worldwide.
"But AI is unlikely to translate all different languages in a virtual world, as it cannot fully process subjective data such as people's thoughts and feelings," he said.
Lee added that AI excels in handling objective data that involves numbers and figures, but cannot decipher hidden messages in subjective data.
"So in the case of Flitto, we educate AI using the data from human interpreters," he explained. Founded in 2012, Flitto provides accurate translations for over 10 million users in 173 countries using collective intelligence.
"Human interpreters do not have to be experts. Their mistakes can also help our AI learn what they should be careful of," Lee said.
The CEO also pointed out that China is currently one of the leaders in the AI market.
"Unlike many other European countries, China does not strictly ban AI companies from collecting data from random people without their consent," Lee said. "This can be problematic, but this has allowed the companies to amass a lot of data to train their AI."
The Korea CQ Forum was joined by French Ambassador Philippe Lefort, Moroccan Ambassador Chafik Rachadi and Mexican Ambassador Bruno Figueroa, among others.
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| Participants of a forum by the Corea Image Communication Institution (CICI), including CICI President Choi Jung-wha, second row fourth from right, and Flitto CEO Simon Lee, second row third from right, pose after Lee's lecture at the French ambassador's residence in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of CICI |
