We’ve taken part in many events during past autumn, which allowed us to meet our partners from the language sector and the project world.

In August-September, we participated in the English as Lingua Nordica conference in Turku, the theme of which was “Language in a Changing World”. The conference provided interesting perspectives and speeches on the role of the English language in the Nordic countries. In mid-September, we took part in the #Language2024 conference organised by Finnish language service companies. This event explored new trends in language work, for example, from the perspective of the AI transition. International Translation Day was held at the end of September, giving us the opportunity to meet our translator partners and new professionals graduating in the field.

In October, the “Large Language Models and Speech-Centric AI” workshop organised by the Language Bank of Finland focused on speech-centric AI, its applications and the utilisation of language data. We presented our own language intelligence solutions, focusing on speech technology in particular.

We also took part in a panel discussion at the Necoverse seminar “Leading the Voyage:  Metaverse Innovation Pilots”, where the topic was “Metaverse User Experience”. Among other things, we discussed how speech recognition and voice commands can facilitate the use of visually stressful user interfaces and the role of language technologies as enablers of multilingual cooperation.

In October, two testing days organised as part of the MALL project allowed employees from SOL and Esperi Care to try out the new language learning methods developed in the project. For example, they tested a chatbot that makes it possible to practice simulated work situations in Finnish.

In mid-November, we participated in the Integration 2024 event, which brings together actors involved in promoting integration to share information, best practices and network. With our partners, we presented the outputs of the MALL project: new tools that support Finnish language learning, such as board games, a VR game and pronunciation exercises. The MALL project focused particularly on language learning related to work situations; adopting the working language of a country has a major impact on the integration process and integration into society.

At the end of November, we invited our translator partners to Turku for a Glögi event We presented our activities and news, but we especially wanted to meet our partners face-to-face at a relaxed event and offer a networking event.

A large number of small colleagues arrived at our office for Children’s Day at Work on 22 November. They were able to do an orienteering task, crafts, test speech recognition and interpret the sales curve for next year. At the end of the month, we adults also got to do a treasure hunt in the office at the Christmas party.

We had our Porridge Party in December, with the Lucia choir and Tiernapojat providing music in the Christmas spirit. 

On Wednesday 11 December, our Turku office hosted the Turku AI meetup event organised by the Southwest Finland branch of the Finnish Information Processing Association. Speakers at these meetings are IT professionals who give a presentation on a current AI topic. The meetings provide an excellent opportunity to meet other experts in the field, exchange ideas and network.