Intentional behaviour, practical AI and the power of words

What am I thinking about?

This week I had my first experience of delivering an online workshop with live translation on Zoom to 170 participants from the client’s APAC region. There was live translation for the Chinese and Japanese participants.

What an experience it was. I had confirmation of live translation a few days before the workshop. Ideally, for translations to work effectively content needs to be reduced and language simplified. It is difficult to keep the content the same and deliver at speed when simultaneous translation is taking place. I didn’t have time to edit the content.

I had to slow down my talking speed and ‘remove’ content as I went to help keep us on schedule. It was an exercise of presence and behaviour change on the go.

I tend to talk faster when I am passionate about a topic. I had to be mindful of my speed and be more deliberate with my choice of words. Intentional behaviour felt like I was driving with one foot on the accelerator and the other foot on the brake. I was asked twice by the translators to slow down. Instant feedback kept me conscious!

Behaviour change is hard but not impossible. And it requires conscious effort.

Did you know….?

I was discussing my experience with a dear friend who works for Microsoft and was amazed by what she told me.

Microsoft Teams has an AI translator that provides real-time translation! My first question was is it still able to get the context right? Sometimes non-human translations translate word for word making it hard to understand the context.

I once was stopped by a Korean family in Kuala Lumpur and they used Google Translate to ask me a question. To be honest, I couldn’t understand the translation and had to ask several more questions to gather context.

My friend told me that the Microsoft AI translator took care of context well and it is a tool that Microsoft staff use when working with their colleagues across various regions!

Here’s the next thing, Microsoft also has an AI avatar that can provide real-time sign language.

UNBELIEVABLE. I was in awe.

Of course, these tools are only available on the paid version of Microsoft Teams. A ‘small’ price to pay for the outcome. Technology is so quickly changing the way we work!

Bangalore revisited

I was in Bangalore last week for work as I mentioned in my last article. I had not been to Bangalore in over 15 years so I was quite excited about seeing the changes.

Bangalore is a city in a hurry.

Construction EVERYWHERE. The new metro system to connect the city is visible everywhere. From the plane, I could see how much and how far Bangalore has expanded. With expansion comes traffic and congestion. I was warned about the pollution but it wasn’t so bad during my visit.

The new airport which opened recently is world-class. Big, spacious with water features and ‘green lungs’ strategically located.

The business parks were beyond my imagination. Built in grid-style blocks. All are large and welcoming.

The grid style blocks

The ‘real’ green lungs are missing. They gave way for the business parks and city to expand. Fast development comes at a cost, and I hope that the city is looking into planting more trees as part of the expansion programme.

Everyone I spoke to mentioned how long the daily commute takes, how much warmer Bangalore has become, and the rise of air pollution.

Nevertheless, it was good to be back in Bangalore. Things have changed in some ways and not in others. Bangalore is portrayed as India’s Silicon Valley yet logging onto Wi-Fi at the airport was not possible for me, a foreigner (with a foreign sim). There was a ‘voucher’ system but it did not work.

The departure gates have barcode scanners for boarding passes but only for hardcopy boarding passes. I had an e-boarding pass and was asked to get a hard copy from my airline. When I asked why, the security guard told me that the immigration officer needed to stamp my boarding pass.

The dichotomy that is India. Parts of her are at full speed ahead while other parts are catching up.

But that’s what makes India, India. And she has a way of stopping me in my tracks.

The wall décor, see image below, at the client building foyer was one of them. It had an even greater story attached to it. See second image below. It got me thinking.

This week I leave you with Narayan Sinha’s Masks.

As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com