Investor.ge spoke with Rati Skhirtladze about the AI-powered platform Enagram.ai and the need to digitalize languages such as Georgian.
Georgian, a low-resource language, is struggling to remain relevant in a world that is increasingly embracing AI and digital technology. Enagram.ai is an AI-powered platform created by Georgians to boost the language’s digital presence and provide 21st century digital solutions for Georgians.
The global AI landscape poses challenges to languages like Georgian, which lack digital resources.
“LLMs (large language models) like ChatGPT or Gemini are based upon large datasets for the English language. Rati Skhirtladze explains that creating an LLM for Georgian is difficult because there aren’t many digital resources to train a model.
UNESCO: 90% of the world’s 6000+ native languages could be replaced by dominant ones by the end 21st century.
UNESCO estimates at least 50% of the world’s six thousand languages are losing their speakers. In most regions of the world, 90 percent of these languages could be replaced by dominant language by the end 21st century. Skhirtladze says that the Georgian language faces a similar threat, but is not in danger of extinction. “The Georgian Language is also under threat. It is relatively protected because it is the official state’s language,” he says. “However, Georgian will also be at risk if it is not equipped with the latest technologies.”
The challenges that languages like Georgian face in the digital age are considerable. While LLMs such as ChatGPT are effective for languages with high-resources, like English and Spanish. Languages like Georgian, however, lack digital material. This creates a gap which threatens the future competitiveness of Georgian in the global technology landscape.
Skhirtladze explains: “This is evident when you look at the fact that speakers of high resource languages like English or Spanish can immediately use and implement a paper published by Google, resulting in a new publication and product.” “However, if you don’t possess these resources for low resource languages, then you cannot create such products.”
It is very difficult to develop an LLM with such a large scale and high quality. Enagram’s team overcame these limitations by being creative. They created custom datasets for the language tools and even hired voice actors to develop their text-to speech functionalities. It’s important to note, too, that the architecture of LLMs enables high-accuracy in specific domains such as banking or medical. The DAL Team is working with these principles and architecture to achieve excellent results in narrow tasks.
Enagram is a culmination of more than 20 years of research and experience in language technologies. It was developed by a team dedicated to this field. The platform’s creators began working with traditional grammar systems. Rati Skhirtladze, a friend and Rati Skhirtladze founded Ena.ge in 2006, a digital platform that offered language resources for Georgian. As artificial intelligence developed, the project gradually shifted to AI-powered solutions. They created the first Georgian spelling-checker that was integrated into Microsoft Word. Using their experience, they developed innovative tools such as the platform’s highly-accurate text-to-speech.
Enagram gives Georgians access to these revolutionary AI tools, allowing them to work smarter and not harder.
Skhirtladze said that the platform continues to grow and add new modules and capabilities regularly. Enagram is planning to enter the US market in the future.
AI technologies available on the platform are applicable across industries. Speech recognition can be used by doctors to dictate documents and notes in the medical field. This saves time and allows them to see more people. Enagram gives Georgians access to AI tools that are used by professionals around the world to maintain a competitive advantage.
Text-to-speech can, for example, help people with impaired sight access information they would not otherwise have access to, allowing them to engage with the world.
Students can also easily transcribe lectures using tools such as speech-to text, giving them the ability to quickly review and search for specific content.
Skhirtaladze believes that the significance of Enagram lies in its ability to make life easier both at work and in personal life.
He explains that this is particularly true for people who are disabled, especially for the blind, for whom Braille is very limited. For them, sound is their only way to receive information. “Social media can make use of text-to speech technology, which was not possible before the development artificial intelligence.”
By Giga Beruashvili for Investor.ge
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