Media Party New York

The adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) by journalists, researchers, and educators is growing across various disciplines. However, its broader uptake remains limited to tech-savvy populations, leaving marginalized communities in the USA underrepresented despite its potential for meaningful impact. A 2019 Pew Research Center report highlighted that the U.S. had about 208,000 legal Bangladeshi immigrants, with only 55% proficient in English. Similar trends are seen across other immigrant communities, where language barriers limit access to information. Ethnic media plays a crucial role in bridging this gap by providing news in the native languages of these communities, such as Bangla in the USA. Journalists often rely on tools like Google Translate to deliver local news in ethnic media, but these tools frequently fall short in providing contextually accurate translations. Emerging large language models (LLM) and GenAI, like GPT-4, offer the potential to improve these translations and generate content in diverse languages. Bangla AI is a project aimed at transforming the Bengali ethnic media landscape using the power of artificial intelligence. Our goal is to empower US-based Bengali journalists with seamless access to critical news and information in their native language, bridging the gap between mainstream media and ethnic media through innovative AI solutions. Bangla AI's primary objective is to develop an AI-based tool that allows Bengali ethnic media journalists to access vital information in Bengali, eliminating the language barrier they often face when gathering news. By offering a personalized newsfeed based on relevant keywords for Bangladeshi immigrants, this tool will enhance the quality and relevance of their news coverage. With advanced search functionality, Bangla AI empowers journalists to discover stories that resonate specifically with the lives of ethnic community members, ensuring comprehensive and accurate news coverage. To bridge the language gap, Bangla AI's dedicated team is tirelessly working on a robust translation feature that will seamlessly convert news articles from English to Bengali. This breakthrough not only connects mainstream English media with ethnic media but also ensures that crucial information reaches the Bengali-speaking audience, strengthening the role of ethnic media as a trusted source of news. The team is actively developing an AI-powered summarization feature that distills lengthy news articles into concise and meaningful summaries in Bangla. Journalists can now keep abreast of current events without compromising on accuracy or depth of coverage, catering to their audience's evolving reading habits.