The language spoken by over 39,000 Inuit people across Canada has been added to the world’s go-to online translator.
Driving the news: Google Translate is expanding its languages to include Inuktut, a broad term encompassing different Inuit dialects. Almost two-thirds of people in Nunavut say their first language is Inuktut, the only province or territory without English or French dominance.
- It’s the first time the translation service will include a First Nations, Métis, or Inuit language from Canada — part of a broader effort at Google to preserve diverse languages.
Catch-up: The AI model powering Google Translate is trained using online text data. That means predominantly spoken languages and endangered dialects that aren’t seen as much online can present challenges.
- Thanks to the Inuit community’s growing digital presence, Google was able to source enough quality data online to create the language model.
Why it matters: Inuktut is integral to the Inuit community’s cultural identity, but at the current rate of decline, only 4% of Inuit in Nunavut will speak it at home by 2050. Experts say bringing Inuktut into more digital spaces is a crucial part of preserving the language.
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