Anna Mae Lamentillo
Bridging the digital divide through linguistic diversity
October 29, 2024 4:11 pm
As an MSc Major Programme Management student at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, my research will focus on one of the most pressing challenges in the digital age: bridging the digital divide by enhancing natural language processing (NLP) capabilities for low-resource languages with complex morphologies. For billions of people, access to digital tools in their native languages remains limited or nonexistent. This gap perpetuates social and economic disparities, and limits access to essential services, especially in regions where languages are rich in complexity but low in digital representation, such as the Philippines and numerous countries across Africa. Through my work, I aim to explore how NLP tailored to these languages can serve as a bridge to digital inclusion and economic opportunity for marginalized communities.
How NightOwlGPT will protect endangered languages
October 24, 2024 9:03 pm
In the world today, a silent crisis is unfolding: the rapid extinction of languages. UNESCO estimates that approximately 40 percent of the world’s 7,000 languages are at risk of disappearing by the end of this century. This is more than just the loss of words and grammar; it is the loss of entire cultures, histories, and identities. As these languages fade, so too do the voices of the communities that speak them, along with the rich cultural knowledge they carry.
AI will revive endangered languages
October 22, 2024 11:33 pm
My name is Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo, and I am a proud member of the Karay-a ethnolinguistic group, one of the many indigenous communities in the Philippines. Growing up, my mother made sure that I knew where my roots came from. She spoke to me in Karay-a, shared our traditional stories, and ensured that I understood the importance of our language in shaping who we are. Because of her, I can still speak Karay-a fluently, but I know that not everyone in my community has been as fortunate. Many of my peers struggle with the language, and fewer children are growing up fluent. Like countless other languages around the world, Karay-a is at risk of fading away as global languages like English and Filipino dominate our daily lives.
Public transport’s role in compact cities
October 16, 2024 12:20 am
Achieving sustainable cities and communities is one of the most challenging among the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because it is a result of a confluence of factors—which includes attainment of the other goals.
Promoting social equity in cities through public transportation
October 10, 2024 11:18 pm
Public transportation costs approximately one-sixteenth (1/16) of what people pay for owning and using a personal vehicle, according to the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). This makes mass transit a vital instrument to alleviate social inequalities in urban areas.