Sony Research and AI Singapore (AISG) announced their partnership on research for the SEA-LION large language models. 

SEA-LION stands for “Southeast Asian Languages in One Network,” which experts adjusted for Southeast Asia. 

PR Newswire says Sony and AISG aim to increase SEA representation in the global LLM landscape. The Philippines is part of Southeast Asia, so the project may help the Pearl of the Orient shine, too.

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How will the Sony-AI Singapore AI project work?

Sony AI will conduct the SEA-LION project as a division of Sony Research. Together with AISG, they will explore testing and feedback of this large language model.

Specifically, they will focus on the Tamil language, an Indian language that 60 to 85 million people speak worldwide.

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Of course, the AI project will develop the LLM for speech recognition, content analysis, and recognition of other Southeast Asian languages. 

“Access to LLMs that address the global landscape of language and culture has been a barrier to driving research and developing new technologies that are representative and equitable for the global populations we serve,” said Hiroaki Kitano, President of Sony Research.

“As a global company, diversity and localization are vital forces. In Southeast Asia specifically, there are more than a thousand different languages spoken by the citizens of the region.”

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“This linguistic diversity underscores the importance of ensuring AI models and tools are designed to support the needs of all populations around the world.”

“We look forward to our collaboration with AISG and the potential to make AI work for everyone,” he added.

Leslie Teo, Senior Director of AI Products for AI Singapore, expressed his excitement for the collaborative project: 

“We are particularly eager to contribute to the testing and refinement of the SEA-LION models for Tamil and other Southeast Asian languages, while also sharing our expertise and best practices in LLM development.”