Just Zwennicker, a data engineer who created a machine translation system for Sranan Tongo, and Bonaventure Dossou, a Ph.D. student focusing on low-resource languages, explore the importance of NLP for local language communities. They discuss the challenges of data scarcity and the need for representation in technology, particularly for African languages. The conversation highlights grassroots initiatives like Masakane, which empowers native speakers to enhance linguistic diversity in NLP systems, ensuring their languages thrive in the digital age.
