There’s a new Korean-English translation app out there and it’s made by Hyundai. That’s right: The automobile manufacturer has gotten in the language business.
According to newspaper The Korea Herald, AIRS Company — an artificial intelligence subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group — developed the tool in order to help the corporation’s international employees communicate. Called the H-Translator, it uses an artificial neural network (ANN) to translate written text as well as extract copy from captured images.
The South Korea-based AIRS Company was established in 2018 and began building the app in 2019. H-Translator can be used both as a standalone tool and with external chat tools. The manufacturer is currently working on adding additional languages and wearable functionality.
In a statement posted on Facebook on December 17, AIRS Company used Facebook’s translation automation to announce the tool into languages other than Korean. In English, one of the more coherent portions read “From the world, we offer the highest level of translation quality specialized in the automotive industry. We are looking forward to being a beginner of translator development for communication between the future vehicles or robots, etc.”
Founded in 1967, Hyundai is a South Korean automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul. The company is no stranger to international business: it operates the world’s largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility in Ulsan, South Korea, and employs about 75,000 people all over the world. As Hyundai has noted, many employees don’t speak the same language. Hyundai vehicles are sold in 193 countries.
In September, Business Korea reported that Hyundai had recruited top AI scholars as part of a strategic transition to expand its offerings: “To pioneer the future of sustainable mobility, [Hyundai] is undergoing an ambitious transformation from an automotive manufacturer to a smart mobility solution provider and it is invested and engaged in various projects and collaborations covering AI, autonomous driving, electrification, and Mobility as a Service (MaaS).”
