Wow that's really cool! thanks for sharing, and thanks for donating <3
Cordially, Ameya Nagarajan (she/her) <http://www.linkedin.com/in/ameyann> On Tue, 22 Jul 2025 at 07:58, Jo Pattabiraman <[email protected]> wrote: > We are investors in Navana, which enables transactions to be closed via > vernacular voice. The company has been collecting voice samples since 2018 > or so, with a focus on banking transactions and the like.They collected > various dialects and accents and colloquial phrasing. > > There was a fantastic article on how empowered people feel when they can > complete transactions with ease. Isn’t this what all Indians deserve? > > > https://theprint-in.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/theprint.in/ground-reports/voice-based-banking-for-low-literate-indians/2610584/?amp > > IISc is also doing work on language sample collection. > > Having a native language LLM is fantastic. That said, a lot can be done > just by unlocking the power of Gen AI for vernacular speakers. > > And rock on, Ameya and Global Voices. Will make a donation. > > Jo > > On Fri, Jul 18, 2025 at 1:57 PM Ameya Nagarajan via Silklist < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Thank so much Venky! >> >> Re Tamil, there was this interesting report that came out recently about >> content >> moderation in Tamil >> <https://cdt.org/insights/moderating-tamil-content-on-social-media/>, >> from the Center for Democracy and Technology. >> >> >> Cordially, >> Ameya Nagarajan >> (she/her) >> >> <http://www.linkedin.com/in/ameyann> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, 18 Jul 2025 at 12:56, Venkatesh Hariharan via Silklist < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Radhika, >>> >>> Viswam.AI is working on Telugu LLMS while AI for TN >>> <https://aitamilnadu.org/> is working on Tamil LLMs. Viswam has worked >>> with around 45,000 volunteers to collect 1.5 million voice samples to train >>> their Automated Speech Recognition system and with colleges around >>> Hyderabad to collate text for LLMs. They are currently in the process of >>> training around 100,000 students in AI over a two month period. Around 20 >>> percent of the time will be spent in collecting data for AI. >>> >>> I recently spoke to the Tamil LLM guys and the situation is challenging >>> but not insurmountable. Notes from my discussion below. >>> >>> Case Study: Tamil LLM >>> ● 70 million speakers >>> ● 15 trillion tokens needed to train Tamil LLM >>> ● Available Digital Tokens: 200 billion >>> ● Tamil Newspapers and Books: 2-3 trillion tokens >>> ● Need govt and community help to create more tokens >>> ● Compute is a challenge. Govt and industry help needed. Distributed >>> computing is an alternative model being explored >>> >>> Venky >>> >>> Ameya: I shall make a contribution to Global Voices over the weekend. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Jul 18, 2025 at 2:33 AM Yeddanapudi Radhika via Silklist < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Ameya et al! Just contributed in a small way to Global Voices. I was >>>> wondering if you know of any indigenous-led efforts in India to use AI to >>>> revitalize, restore, and preserve language. I read the story on the Global >>>> Voices site about Bultoo Radio (brilliant local name!) but that effort has >>>> the advantage of having many speakers. I'm thinking of efforts more like >>>> what Danielle Boyer has done: >>>> >>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLRLyt5Ux7I >>>> >>>> Cheers. >>>> Radhika >>>> >>>> On Wed, Jul 16, 2025 at 9:33 PM Ameya Nagarajan via Silklist < >>>> [email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Dear Silklisters (S-listers?) >>>>> >>>>> Some of you know me, some of you don't. I'll admit I'm really more a >>>>> lurker here than a talker, but I am delurking to ask for help. >>>>> >>>>> I am the Managing Editor of Global Voices >>>>> <http://www.globalvoices.org>, a non profit that publishes news from >>>>> the global south in many many languages. Most of our writers and >>>>> translators are volunteers, people who really believe in how important it >>>>> is to get this news out into the world, to cross linguistic barriers and >>>>> help people understand that really, most of us have the same problems, and >>>>> actually we need to band together against digital authoritarianism >>>>> <https://advox.globalvoices.org/special/unfreedom-monitor/> more than >>>>> distrust regular people from one country over. >>>>> >>>>> GV and our partners work to defend the independence of the media >>>>> <http://advox.globalvoices.org>, the openness of the internet, and >>>>> the right of everyone, everywhere, to free expression. Our multilingual >>>>> newsroom publishes in 5 languages and stories are translated into >>>>> over 30 others <https://lingua.globalvoices.org/>. We work with >>>>> Indigenous activists >>>>> <https://rising.globalvoices.org/blog/2025/06/17/join-us-online-meeting-to-highlight-digital-initiatives-for-adivasi-languages-of-india/> >>>>> to decolonize the internet and digitize their languages, and raise >>>>> awareness of digital security. We are able to run really great projects, >>>>> like the climate justice fellowship >>>>> <https://globalvoices.org/special/global-voices-climate-justice-fellowship-2025/> >>>>> that pairs Sinophone journalists and global south journalists to write >>>>> investigative pieces about China's presence in other countries and the >>>>> climate impacts of it. >>>>> >>>>> We've been around for twenty years, and in 2025 we've been very badly >>>>> hit by Trump's funding cuts and their cascading consequences. We are a >>>>> very >>>>> low-cost organization, with no office and few operating costs, and most of >>>>> our funding goes directly into staff pay. >>>>> >>>>> At a time when many for-profit media organizations are struggling, >>>>> Global Voices’ production and readership have been going up -- but since >>>>> we >>>>> are committed to never paywalling and not showing ads, that doesn’t >>>>> translate into covering our running costs. >>>>> >>>>> The four years I have worked at Global Voices have transformed me, my >>>>> understanding of the world, and my faith in humanity. Yes, working in the >>>>> news in the past four years I have managed to have my faith in humanity >>>>> restored. That is the power of Global Voices. I can find another job, but >>>>> I >>>>> don't know if we can ever build another Global Voices. Our mission is now >>>>> more urgent than ever. Please help us keep going! Donate if you can >>>>> <https://globalvoices.org/donate/>, and share in your networks. >>>>> >>>>> I apologize if this was not a good forum for this plea, but we're >>>>> desperate! Here are some recent stories that give you a sense of what we >>>>> do, pulled from the newsletter: >>>>> >>>>> Truth-to-power stories, like this one about an Australian journalist >>>>>> punished for her post on Gaza >>>>>> <https://globalvoices.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9307106bf78cc186e924ad999&id=c2f49b4088&e=ff64988260> >>>>>> or this one about Turkey's political oppression >>>>>> <https://globalvoices.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9307106bf78cc186e924ad999&id=643f270485&e=ff64988260>, >>>>>> remind me how much courage there is among journalists and activists. >>>>>> Other >>>>>> stories remind me about the complexity of the world beyond the headlines >>>>>> that are screamed over and over in my feed, like this one about >>>>>> Uzbekistan's >>>>>> football team >>>>>> <https://globalvoices.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9307106bf78cc186e924ad999&id=643f270485&e=ff64988260>, >>>>>> or this one about the de-colonialization of the official language in >>>>>> Niger >>>>>> <https://globalvoices.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9307106bf78cc186e924ad999&id=55d6b513e3&e=ff64988260>. >>>>>> And then there are the articles that remind me of the joy in the world, >>>>>> like this one about International Reggae Day >>>>>> <https://globalvoices.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9307106bf78cc186e924ad999&id=3dafc036e2&e=ff64988260>, >>>>>> this one about using K'iche’ Maya glyphs to reconnect art and >>>>>> language >>>>>> <https://globalvoices.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9307106bf78cc186e924ad999&id=86ae3f66e8&e=ff64988260>, >>>>>> or the new special coverage about migration and belonging >>>>>> <https://globalvoices.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9307106bf78cc186e924ad999&id=a5bd592612&e=ff64988260> >>>>>> . >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Cordially, >>>>> Ameya Nagarajan >>>>> (she/her) >>>>> >>>>> <http://www.linkedin.com/in/ameyann> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Silklist mailing list >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> *Translator/Owner* >>>> *AzulIndica Translations* >>>> *North Vancouver BC, Canada* >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Silklist mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >>>> >>> -- >>> Silklist mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >>> >> -- >> Silklist mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist >> >
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