AI localization is about creating lovable experiences for your customers around the world through AI-based products that are authentic to their local cultures. The digital world knows no boundaries. Digital creates new opportunities but also challenges as companies adapt AI-based products and services locally. What does a lovable experience with AI localization look like? In our recently published white paper developed with research firm Nimdzi, we share some examples to help executives understand what success looks like. They include:
The research team at Facebook recently introduced a new feature in their project
TextStyleBrush that allows users to emulate the style of the text detected in images. It not only lets a user change a typed email into a more personable handwritten note on the screen, but it also has the potential to introduce photorealistic translation of languages in augmented reality (AR). Moving an arrow from right to left on a screen allows a user to translate handwritten signs from French to English with the help of localized AI.
Google Search
Google practices AI localization through its core search product. If you use Google Search for the term football in the United States, Google produces results focused on the NFL.com, which makes sense for how Americans define football. But in the United Kingdom, the search brings results on World Cup Qualifiers. This is an example of how AI localization is beyond language. Context needs to be localized as Google does with search results.
Spotify
Spotify offers a global service by making itself available to 80 markets, and in some 36 new languages. Spotify uses AI to create customized music playlists based on your listening experience. Those playlists differ by global location. Spotify is an example of localizing content and an experience beyond translating language. If you want to present a list of products that will resonate with someone in Germany, that list should be different from a list you present to people in Sweden, India, or the United States. Localizing the product recommendation has nothing to do with language.
Netflix
Netflix has gradually localized content across multiple countries over a period of years. As a result, its subscriber base continues to grow internationally. Through rigorous A/B testing, before new features are deployed, Netflix analyzes the behavioral patterns of its users and develops content relevant to localized tastes. For instance, A/B testing allows Netflix to maintain authenticity in tone and language. Netflix always provides subtitles and language dubs. Netflix also:
- Ensures that its user interface and customer support are available in target languages.
- Examines cultural preferences to develop original titles for different countries. Some of those titles can actually become global hits, too. Examples include Lupin (developed France), Money Heist (Spain), and Sacred Games (India).
- Customizes the user experience, including the suggested titles that appear as thumbnails onscreen. These customize cues guide audiences to content that they are more likely to enjoy.
Amazon Alexa
Since developing its Alexa voice assistant, Amazon has become the dominant provider of AI-fueled smart speakers around the world. One way Amazon does that is by making Alexa available in multiple languages. Amazon has made several improvements to Alexa, including allowing Alexa to switch automatically between multiple languages. In December 2021, Amazon launched Alexa in Saudi Arabia offering customers an all-new, localized language experience in an Arabic Khaleeji dialect. The localized experience includes a local dialect voice with a local personality; local pronunciations and intonation; local knowledge; and nearly 200 Alexa skills with favorites from Saudi developers and regional brands including Anghami, AlArabiya, MBC, Careem, Fatafeat, Al Baik, Sabq, and more.
Key Takeaways
- AI localization is a powerful way for a brand such as Spotify to achieve global reach by meeting the needs of multiple audiences in different countries.
- An outcome of AI localization is that AI feels natural. The user is not aware of AI “getting in the way” of the experience. AI is in the background, making a product more lovable and personal.
- AI localization is more than translating language properly. It’s about delivering a localized experience.
- AI localization requires a business to train AI with localized data – collecting and curating data sets that respond to cultures in different markets.
Our recently published blog post on Centific.com, “AI Localization: What It Is, and How to Do It Right,” contains tips for how to approach AI localization successfully.
How Centific Can Help
At Pactera EDGE, we provide AI localization services to clients around the world by combining our OneForma platform with globally crowdsourced resources who possess in-market subject matter expertise, mastery of 200+ languages, and insight into local forms of expressions, such as emoji on different social apps. We collect and localize billions of data units across a wide range of domains every year, enabling multilingual virtual personal assistants, locale-relevant search engines, enterprise-grade and machine translation engines, and automated image, text, and speech recognition solutions.
We provide AI localization services to the world’s largest corporations. We understand our clients’ needs and expectations and offer mindful and secure custom AI data solutions at scale.
To learn how we can help you, contact us. Download our white paper on AI localization here.
Photo by Karthik Balakrishnan on Unsplash
Chief Globalization Officer, Centific
