E204 ‘Multilingual Innovation and AI’ with Microsoft’s Kalika Bali

Today’s guest is Kalika Bali, Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research India. In the episode, Kalika talks about her intriguing journey and impactful work, as well as peeling back the layers of how accidental moments can shape careers and how language technologies are transforming lives worldwide.

Kalika’s journey into the world of linguistics and AI was far from premeditated. Originally setting out to become a journalist, it was a series of fortuitous events that led her to linguistics, a field she had little awareness of at the outset. Picking up an introduction to linguistics book, a spontaneous decision steered her academic pursuit away from chemistry, illustrating how seemingly inconsequential choices can have a profound impact on one’s life trajectory.

With almost two decades at Microsoft Research in India, Kalika’s focus lies in creating multilingual technology with a strong social emphasis. Her commitment to increasing access to technology through voice-based interfaces highlights the crucial need for overcoming literacy and accessibility barriers. By doing so, she strives to diminish the technological gap for communities traditionally marginalised by language and literacy constraints.

A significant barrier in Kalika’s work is the scarcity of data for lower-resource languages. Collecting and developing such data is not only a logistical challenge but also a crucial step in making technology inclusive. Another aspect she focuses on is the socio-cultural dynamics and biases that westernised AI models might impose if directly applied in diverse cultural landscapes. Kalika emphasises the importance of ethical and responsible AI that recognises different societal structures and gender disparities.

Kalika advocates for gender-aware rather than gender-neutral technology, emphasising how awareness of cultural and linguistic nuances is essential for genuinely inclusive AI. Developers need to move beyond the mere fantasy of blind technology application, considering the real cultural intricacies that affect end-users in various regions of the world.

For Kalika, AI is not just a tool for the users she aims to help but a personal aid in research and productivity. She uses AI to refine her ideas, leveraging it as a conversational partner to explore concepts and enhance her daily tasks efficiency, such as drafting routine emails.

Kalika’s work underscores the importance of preserving cultural identities through technology. Her interaction with the AI community in northeast India highlighted how digital representation can bolster cultural visibility and significance in today’s digital age. For aspiring researchers, she advises a focus on enduring and significant challenges rather than fleeting trends, encouraging them to choose problems that ignite their passion and maintain their focus on substantial work.

Kalika’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of language and technology. Her dedication articulates a broader vision where technology serves as a bridge rather than a barrier, ensuring everyone, regardless of their linguistic background, has a voice in the digital world. Kalika and her team at Microsoft Research are paving the way for more inclusive and responsible AI, ensuring technology access for all.