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Internship Post #3

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So for this post I am having to respond to the question “what new skills are you learning?” The answer is plenty. But in particular, the most important is a refresher from previous work experience, how to introduce new technologies at an organization with already established procedures and process. In my case, I have been asked to work on a video project that includes media that was taken at an event in Ohio several weeks ago. The new technology is a video indexing application that allows for an AI process to transcribe and translate text from audio. The application is invaluable for video production, especially if there a language component. However, for organizations not familiar with language versioning it introduces all sorts of complications.

What I am learning is that even well established organizations like the Smithsonian have hybrid production teams composed of members from various units. This usually works for rapid development, but does not always accommodate last minute changes or new requirements. In the case of the American Ginseng project, there is a need for a globalization strategy that would permit language versioning of text and media for key markets, especially China. But adding this functionality as a new requirement would add significant cost and effort.

A cooking video that was transcribed and translated into Mandarin

The prototype application that I am working with, Iomovo, provides a possible solution. My goal is to demonstrate this new AI technology and permit all of the various teams involved with the project to determine how it could assist with future language versioning requirements.

As you can imagine it is not always a new technology that is the most difficult thing to overcome. In the case of transcribing and translating, there are other complications. For example, Natural Language Processing (NLP) can only automate so much. There will always be a need for a human editor to review and ensure the quality of the translation. Unfortunately, not everyone who is a native speaker is a qualified translator.

So the important new skill I have learned is to always make sure that the introduction of a new technology clearly solves a problem and not create another one. For the remainder of my internship, I am hoping to assist the Smithsonian develop the resources, processes and procedures to ensure the success of their developing global versioning strategy.

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