(VOR News) – On Wednesday, the global arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba debuted an enhanced iteration of its AI-driven translation service.
This version, according to the firm, performs better than DeepL, Google, and ChatGPT’s releases. The Chinese company claimed that this is predicated on an analysis carried out by translation benchmark framework Flores on Alibaba International’s new model, Marco MT.
Alibaba’s fast-growing foreign branch showcased the AI translation solution as an improvement over one that was launched about a year ago and boasts 500,000 merchant users.
The translation tool lets Alibaba vendors in one country create product pages in their target market’s language.
In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Kaifu Zhang, vice president of Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group and leader of the company’s artificial intelligence initiative, stated that the new version is only reliant on large language models, which allows it to use contextual cues like industry-specific terms or cultural references.
“The idea is that we want this AI tool to help the merchants’ bottom line because the platform will do well if the merchants are doing well,” he said.
Large language models enable artificial intelligence products like ChatGPT, a text translation tool from OpenAI. Because the models have been trained on vast amounts of data, they are able to generate replies to user inputs that are human-like.
One of Alibaba’s proprietary models, Qwen, is used in the construction of its translation tool. The product is compatible with fifteen languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
Zhang said he expects “substantial demand” for the device from Europe and the Americas. Furthermore, he thinks that one important application area would be emerging markets.
Zhang claims that when users of Alibaba.com, a marketplace where suppliers may sell to businesses, are categorized by nation, more than half of the top 20 active users of AI technologies are from developing countries.
Chinese companies, especially those in the e-commerce space, are increasingly looking outside their country for growth opportunities. PDD Financial Assets
Among the most recent foreign market entrants are Temu, the fast-fashion shop Shein, and TikTok from ByteDance. There are also a lot of Chinese retailers available on Amazon.com.
Helpful context
Since its initial release last autumn, Alibaba says that its AI translation engine has translated over 100 million product listings. Like other AI-based services, the basic pricing model charges merchants based on the volume of translated text.
Zhang declined to say how much the updated version would cost. He claims that it is included in some service packages for companies seeking to gain some initial exposure to clients abroad.
His idea states that contextual translation significantly raises the possibility that a buyer will make a purchase. He used the example of how failing to grasp the intended meaning when translating a colloquial Chinese description of a shoe would have turned off English-speaking clients.
Zhang said, “Due to more authentic expression, the updated translation engine will make Double 11 a better experience for consumers.” Alibaba organizes an annual shopping festival called Double 11.
Part of Alibaba’s global operations are websites with an emphasis on Southeast Asia, such as Lazada and AliExpress. The overseas unit’s sales for the June quarter grew by 32% to $4.03 billion, compared to the same period last year.
In comparison, Alibaba’s main e-commerce platforms, Taobao and Tmall, have had a 1% year-over-year fall in sales to $15.6 billion. These platforms have focused on China.
The Taobao app is highly favored by Singaporeans as well. The AI-powered English version of the app was made available to users in the country in September.
Alibaba’s operating losses decreased and its foreign sales slowed to 29% year-over-year growth in the quarter that ended in September, according to a study released by Nomura analysts on October 10. The date of Alibaba’s quarterly earnings announcement is yet unknown.
SOURCE: CNBC
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