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Coursera offers AI-generated translation for Korean learners, instructors
Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda speaks during a press conference at The Plaza Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Coursera
By Park Jae-hyuk
Coursera started translating over 4,400 lectures worldwide into Korean and online courses of Korean institutions into 21 different languages by using multiple large language models (LLMs) developed by various artificial intelligence (AI) companies, the U.S. e-learning platform operator said Tuesday.
Its translation service allows users to view subtitles and transcripts of each online lecture in the languages they want. The whole interface of its platform can also be translated into various languages.
As a result, the platform's most popular lectures, such as “AI for Everyone” from DeepLearning.AI and “Programming for Everybody” from the University of Michigan, are now available with Korean subtitles. Korean institutions’ courses including “First Step Korea” from Yonsei University are also available with subtitles in 21 different languages.
Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of the New York Stock Exchange-listed firm, emphasized in a press conference that AI technologies have reduced the cost for translating a lecture to $20 from $13,000.
However, he admitted the need for human intervention, saying that the company has yet to rely completely on AI-generated translation.
According to the CEO, the company’s human linguists conduct spot checks of the actual translated texts.
Coursera also allows users to give feedback to translated scripts, even if they are not bilingual. In addition, the e-learning platform informs its users that its translation has been performed by AI.
Maggioncalda hoped for faster evolution and improvements in LLMs, which can make translation even cheaper.
During the press conference, Coursera also played a video clip showing the possibility of translating a lecturer’s voice into various languages by utilizing a deepfake, which can even change the lecturer’s lip movements.
Although the company said it needs more time to commercialize the technology, the CEO emphasized that it will enable any instructor to speak any language for any learner.