Google Translate now supports Cantonese after its biggest language expansion, driven by AI

Google has added Cantonese to its Google Translate service, as part of its largest-ever expansion that saw 110 new languages being supported, aided by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology.

From Thursday, users of the app and browser versions of the Google tool can translate between 243 languages, including Cantonese, a Chinese dialect widely spoken in Hong Kong, Macau, parts of the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, as well as some Chinese migrant communities worldwide.

Google Translate can process and generate both text and voice, meaning that users can type or speak in one language, then read or listen to the translation.

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"Cantonese has long been one of the most requested languages" for the service, Isaac Caswell, senior software engineer at Google Translate, wrote in a blog post. "Because Cantonese often overlaps with Mandarin in writing, it's tricky to find data and train models."

Cantonese and Mandarin are both written in Chinese characters, but Cantonese has some differences in grammar, terms and structure.

With the help of the US tech company's PaLM 2 large language model (LLM), launched over a year ago, Google Translate can learn languages that are closely related to each other more efficiently, according to Caswell.

The rapid advancement of LLMs - the technology behind a new breed of intelligent AI tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini chatbot - has set off a race among Big Tech companies and start-ups to roll out new service features and improve existing functions.

Google on Thursday introduced its Gemma 2 LLM to researchers and developers, the second generation of a family of lightweight, open-source models that the company unveiled in February. Google said Gemma is built from the same research and technology used to create its flagship Gemini models.

As Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest investor, rushes to bake more advanced capabilities into its Edge web browser, Google on Wednesday brought five new features to its mobile Chrome browser.

They include short-cuts for local search results, a redesigned address bar, personalised search suggestions, trending search recommendations, and live sports updates.

Google Translate now supports Cantonese. Photo: Screenshot alt=Google Translate now supports Cantonese. Photo: Screenshot>

Google Translate is not the first service to support Cantonese.

The translator tool of Microsoft's Bing search engine can already process Cantonese text and voice. LLMs from OpenAI can also translate Cantonese. SenseTime, one of China's AI pioneers, last month introduced a Cantonese LLM tailored for Hong Kong users, which will be made available for free locally.

However, none of those services are as popular as Google among internet users in Hong Kong, where Google.com remained the most visited website as of last month, according to traffic tracker Similarweb.

Other new languages introduced to Google Translate include Punjabi (Shahmukhi), the most spoken language in Pakistan, as well as the Hindi-related languages of Awadhi and Marwadi.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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