AI and Translation
AI is transforming translation by making it faster, more accessible, and capable of handling dozens of languages that previously lacked digital tools. These systems can bridge cultural and linguistic gaps, helping people learn, collaborate, and share ideas across borders. At the same time, AI translation still struggles with nuance, tone, and culturally embedded meaning, reminding us that human judgment remains essential. When used thoughtfully, AI becomes a powerful partner in expanding understanding while preserving the richness of human language. Professor Stephen D. Richardson is working on low-resource languages in Africa to encourage the communication and preservation of tribal languages.
Steve Richardson
Steve Richardson is an associate professor of Computer Science at Brigham Young University. His research focus is on machine translation (now referred to as AI translation) of both speech and text for thousands of the world’s low-resource languages. He has recently served as president and councilor of the Association for Machine Translation in the Americas. Steve has been involved in machine translation R&D for over five decades. His prior experiences include: manager of Machine Translation and Translation Systems at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, partner researcher and manager of the Machine Translation Group at Microsoft Research, senior programmer at the IBM Watson Research Center and ASD Bethesda lab, and researcher at BYU’s Translation Sciences Institute. He has BS and MA degrees in Computer Science and Linguistics from BYU and a PhD in Computer Science from the City University of New York. He has served on numerous advisory boards and conference program committees and is the author and/or editor of various books, conference proceedings, and research papers, as well as numerous patents.
Ammon Shurtz
Ammon Shurtz is a Computer Science PhD student at Brigham Young University, where he serves as the Lead Research Assistant at the MATRIX Lab. His research focuses on AI translation and low-resource natural language processing, working to build AI systems that serve language communities often overlooked by mainstream AI development, such as those in Southeast Asia. His own family heritage includes Cambodian ancestry, and he is fluent in the Khmer language. He holds both a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from BYU and has authored several publications across leading conferences on AI and Computational Linguistics.
Charles Cranney
As a writer/editor, IT admin, film producer/editor, Russian speaker, singer, and more, Charles Cranney loves to combine disparate elements to advance great causes, including the BYU Speeches translation initiative. He enjoys mentoring his diverse, talented student teams of translators, developers, film editors, composers, and intelligent search specialists. From 2007–2010, he served as the mission leader for the Russia Moscow Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Involved in civic causes, he served as board chair of Utah Valley Refugees and treasurer of the More Good Foundation. Currently, Charles is the senior manager of digital media at BYU Brand & Creative. He has been there for nearly 46 years, starting out with a typewriter as his tool of choice and now engaging with BYU’s vast audiences in the digital domain.
Dr Marianna Richardson
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Marianna Richardson is currently the Director of Communications for the G20 Interfaith Forum. She is also an adjunct professor at the Marriott School of Business (MSB) in management communication and the editor-in-chief of the Marriott Student Review, a student-run, peer-reviewed journal. She is also the faculty advisor for Measuring Success Right, a business podcast. She was recently awarded the Wendy C. Archibald Meritorious Service Award from the J. Reuben Clark Law School and the Outstanding Adjunct Teaching Award at BYU MSB. She is also on the International Advisory Council for the International Center for Law and Religious Studies. She has published books and articles on a variety of subjects. She received her master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and her doctorate from Seattle Pacific University.
