Microsoft funds projects to digitize Greek dialects
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Five projects in Greece received support from Microsoft’s LINGUA initiative to preserve local dialects with limited digital presence.
The initiative addresses a new form of linguistic inequality where languages with small online footprints are excluded from artificial intelligence systems. Microsoft’s LINGUA program supports research and organizations working to digitize these languages, recognizing that without digital representation, languages risk being left out of the data used to train digital systems.
In Greece, the Romani, Tsakonian, Cappadocian, Pontic Greek, and Arvanitic languages, distinct linguistic groups each with their own history, face this challenge due to their limited digital presence. ARSIS. Social Organization Supporting Youth received 50,000 euros to digitize Romani language materials. Four other projects from the University of Crete, the Institute for Language Processing, the Tsakonian Archive, and Istorima will receive Azure credits and access to Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab.
These projects aim to move these dialects from oral tradition and archives into usable data for new technologies. Wassim Hamidouche of Microsoft explained that limited linguistic data affects the effectiveness of AI tools and restricts equal access for speakers. Microsoft’s CEO for Greece, Cyprus, Malta, and the Adriatic, Gianna Andronopoulou, noted that language carries history, values, and identity, and preserving dialects is about safeguarding cultural heritage.
The LINGUA initiative is part of broader European Digital Commitments to support linguistic and cultural diversity.
