Reddit introduces a new feature allowing users to translate posts and comments

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Reddit revealed earlier Wednesday that it has begun the process of using artificial intelligence in conjunction with machine translation to make the website readable in dozens of different countries including across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

This feature works in all Reddit environments – mobile, applications, and the web – and will allow users to perform an auto-translation of a post and all its replies to their side language like one’s a Babelfish from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. You will be able to post in any language most suitable to your choice and where the current system allows it will be translated to the user’s preferred dialect. That is, if you are in Brazil and reading a blog post with English and Spanish comments, you will not have to translate each reply as the entire conversation and Reddit will all load in Portuguese.

Folks in Brazil and Spain can now rely on the translate feature that is available in the apps when using Reddit to translate their Reddit feed — posts and comments — into new language options, the company released in an official statement. Translated posts will be indicated to prevent confusion and will include an option for you to view the post in the translation’s original language.

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What was new in May was the ability to automatically translate content for French-speaking audiences. Reddit had a similar translation feature before, although this one was not alive site-wide, but only for selected posts.

It has taken the company seven months after listing in the market to pose this kind of a decisive statement. Being an English-dominated website Reddit wants to expand its user base and make the content of the website accessible to potential new posters across the world and the company has decided that the best way to do it is through translation by machines. Since the announcement, Reddit has added both Spanish and Portuguese as platforms it supports. Over the next few weeks, the feature will be available in Germany, Italy, the Philippines and in other Latin American countries.

Source: TechCrunch