User Study for Improving Tools for Bible Translation

Abstract: Technology has increasingly become an integral part of the Bible translation process. Over time, both the translation process and relevant technology have evolved greatly. More recently, the field of NLP has made great progress in solving some problems previously thought impenetrable. Through this study we endeavor to better understand and communicate about a segment of the current landscape of the Bible translation process as it relates to technology and identify pertinent issues. We conduct several interviews with individuals working in different levels of the Bible translation process from multiple organizations to identify gaps and bottlenecks where technology (including recent advances in AI) could potentially play a pivotal role in reducing translation time and improving overall quality.