Naver has opened its AI-powered translation service to the public for the first time, whilst also expanding its range of functions. The software, called Papago, has been available as a mobile app under beta testing since late 2016, but is now available on desktop as well. Naver has also increased Papago's word limit from 200 to 500, equalling Google Translates' word limit. The software uses an AI-based machine learning algorithm, which can arrive at multiple translations before providing the most appropriate version based on context. This context is learned by the algorithm using a large database of translated materials. Currently, Papago can translate between Korean, English and simplified Chinese, but Naver plans to add Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Indonesian and Thai before next year.
