ETRI to develop AI platform for old document translations

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). [Courtesy of ETRI]

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced Thursday that it is developing an artificial intelligence (AI) platform to help professional translators translate historical documents written in Chinese characters.

The main features of the Smart Work Platform developed by ETRI researchers include support for authentication via document comparison, character recognition and inspection support, dictionary, and the sharing of translation patterns and special terminology.

These features are expected to facilitate collaborative translation and interpretation. Translating Korean old documents currently requires several steps including manually entering the original text, transcribing and checking it, and changing it to Korean.

The new technology has a recognition accuracy of 92 percent and a translation accuracy of 85 points, according to the researchers.

ETRI plans to release web and app services that harness AI to recognize and translate ancient Chinese characters to allow the public to translate books that are written in the language conveniently by the end of 2023.

The public can experience the platform via kiosks to be installed at 11 libraries and cultural centers nationwide, including the National Assembly Library, in September.

“Until now, the working environment of translation experts has been overwhelmingly labor intensive,” Kang Hyun-seo, head of ETRI‘s Honam Research Center said. “Our digital transformation will simplify the work and make it easier for those who do not know Chinese characters to access old books, which are an integral part of Korea’s cultural heritage.”