Asian translation teams are accelerating their pace using new technology.
Bible translation takes time. Historically, decades have passed between the time a community first expresses interest in having Scripture in their language and when translators complete the work.
This was the case for the Branchu community in the rugged hills of Asia. They celebrated the completion of their full Bible 24 years after the project began. A leader held the book at the 2023 event and said, “This country says that Buddha is god, but Buddha is in the ground. We know, because we have the Bible in our language, that our God is the God of the world. He was in the ground, but He is alive now.” The crowd broke out in cheers.
But what if this moment could have happened sooner?
There is urgency for the Bible to be accessible. When people have the opportunity to know Jesus and understand the gospel message, lives change—individuals find hope, families reflect grace, communities experience renewal.
Four other translation teams located in the same region and from the same project as Branchu, named the Twig Cluster, feel this urgency. They continue working to complete their own Bibles in communities where less than 2 percent of the population identifies as Christian. Determined to finish quality translations as soon as possible, these teams have implemented a new tool to help them—artificial intelligence (AI).
Quickly becoming a movement-wide model for expediting Old Testament translation, AI-assisted drafting is changing the game. The Twig teams finished their New Testaments within the typical 10-year timeframe before participating in Seed Company’s pilot AI workshops in 2023. Now, they are using their completed work to generate initial Old Testament drafts that will go through rigorous reviews. Using this process, the teams are on track to finish their Old Testaments in an accelerated six years—even though the Old Testament is three times longer than the New Testament!
The teams are on track to finish their Old Testaments in an accelerated six years.
AI offers teams initial drafts with consistent key terms, formatting, and grammar. The teams are then able to walk through all the normal steps of human revision and checking quicker than if they started manually. A lead translator for one of these teams notes that AI is making the work easier and faster. Their translation consultant agrees, saying that the checking done so far (on over 3,300 verses for each language) has confirmed that the process is producing quality work.
Implementing this model means community members are seeing Scripture quicker, and are able to give feedback on the clarity and naturalness of the drafts. “People in the community are accepting the text,” says one translator, “and our team’s confidence level is also increasing.” This is exciting news as they work hard to make the gospel accessible to their people in a way that is accurate and understandable.
The entirety of God’s Word in these Asian communities is within reach—not in decades, but in just a few years.
As with many language groups around the globe longing for Scripture, AI is providing opportunity for the Twig Cluster. The entirety of God’s Word in these Asian communities is within reach—not in decades, but in just a few years. Praise God that day is coming soon!
