HD KSOE deploys AI-powered translation for growing foreign workforce

Industry

Published: 09 Jul. 2024, 15:53 Updated: 09 Jul. 2024, 18:47

HD KSOE deploys AI-powered translation for growing foreign workforce

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering is rolling out its AI-powered translation service at its dockyards [HD KOREA SHIPBUILDING & OFFSHORE ENGINEERING]

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) has introduced an AI-powered translation service at its dockyards that has been trained on industry terminology to better communicate with its growing number of foreign workers, currently numbering over 8,700.

Called "AI Agent," the service’s translation model has been developed up to its first planned stage of text-to-text translation and has been deployed at KSOE subsidiary HD Hyundai Samho's construction site in Yeongam, South Jeolla, the company said Tuesday.

KSOE plans to implement the service at all of its shipbuilding subsidiaries including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo by the end of the year.

AI Agent consists of three parts: a messenger app, chatbot server and translation model. When someone enters text into the messenger, it is automatically translated on the recipient’s end. At HD Hyundai Samho, the translation model is connected to the company’s messenger app, TeamUP, and displays text translated into the language set by each user.

KSOE expects AI Agent to fix the problems workers faced when using publicly available translation services, which could not accurately translate regional dialects or shipbuilding terminology, according to the company; as well as streamline the process by eliminating the need for manual translation into multiple languages.

The service uses Google Gemini’s large language model (LLM) and Google’s Live Translate, a spokesperson for KSOE said. The shipbuilder's in-house AI center collected data on language used in the sector and trained the LLM using its own source code.

A total of 13,000 terms commonly used at dockyards and shipbuilding terminology registered as standard Korean, as well as 4,200 instructional phrases used in the construction process, were fed into the model. It is currently available in four languages — Vietnamese, Uzbek, Nepali and Thai — but will expand to 11.

AI Agent will also be used to aid communication in multiple areas of foreign workers’ lives including safety, education and guides for everyday living.

“Clear instructions made through smooth communication is crucial to guaranteeing the safety of our foreign workers,” KSOE said in its press release.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]