Preserving cultural heritage for a more inclusive future

I was deeply moved reading this story about brothers Abdoulaye and Ibrahima Barry who, at the young age of 10 and 14, set out to invent an alphabet for their native language Fulfulde. The language had been spoken by millions of people in Africa for centuries but never had its own writing system.

They invented the writing system ADLaM which, today, is used by Fulfade speakers all over the continent. It’s also been integrated into Windows and Office within Microsoft’s existing Ebrima font and, as is included in the Windows 10 May 2019 update, allowing users to type and see ADLaM in Word and other Office apps.

Modern-day threats to cultural heritage are dramatically illustrated through the future of languages, the verbal expression of culture. According to UNESCO, today one-third of the world’s languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers, and every two weeks, a language dies with its last speaker. It is predicted that between 50 and 90 percent of endangered languages will disappear by the next century. When the world loses a language, we all lose an important piece of human history, and a community loses its ability to connect and communicate with its past.

But, as Abdoulaye says in the article, having ADLaM on phones and computers creates infinite possibilities – Fulbhe people around the world are now able to text each other, surf the internet and produce written materials in their own language. “Having this writing system, you can teach kids how to speak Fulani just like you teach them to speak English. It will help preserve the language and let people be creative and innovative,” he says.

 Building a future that preserves our history

At Microsoft, we know that it’s our business to advance technology – but we also believe these technological advances should respect and even help protect the world’s timeless values.

It is with this conviction that Microsoft recently announced a new and fourth pillar to its AI for Good portfolio – our $125 million, five-year commitment to use artificial intelligence to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges. This new pillar will focus on AI for Cultural Heritage.

We know that an appreciation of cultural heritage can also help advance broader opportunities and a more inclusive future. As such, our new AI for Cultural Heritage program will use artificial intelligence to work with nonprofits, universities and governments around the world to help preserve the languages we speak, the places we live and the artefacts we treasure.

AI for Cultural Heritage will build our initial innovation in this space, such as work we’ve done in Paris at the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, where we have partnered with two French companies, HoloForge Interactive and Iconem, to create an entirely new museum experience with mixed reality and AI that paid homage to Mont-Saint-Michel, a French cultural icon off the coast of Normandy. Similarly in southwestern Mexico, we’re engaged as part of our ongoing efforts to preserve languages around the world to capture and translate Yucatec Maya and Querétaro Otomi using AI to make them more accessible to people around the world.

 Intelligently shaping the future

These projects have given us confidence that we can put AI to innovative uses that can help communities expand access to culture and explore new perspectives and connections through shared experiences. We’ve realised that this work deserves more than a handful of projects. That’s why we’re bringing these efforts together in a more comprehensive program that will explore and pursue new opportunities with institutions around the world.

As with our three other AI for Good Programs — AI for Earth, AI for Accessibility and AI for Humanitarian Action — we look forward to innovating and learning together with individuals and institutions around the world. And we look forward to sharing what we learn with others in the hope that we can all help inspire each other to use the planet’s most advanced technology to help preserve some of the world’s timeless values.