Despite the capability of automated translation, there is no smooth way to browse the web in multiple languages. It would be useful to have search engines return results from any language, with the results automatically translated into English. When you click on them, you then go to a web page automatically translated into English and can continue browsing in English. This seems important for EA because EA research currently relies primarily on English resources, and this could be causing bias in EA research. It would also be useful for other researchers and policy people working on global issues, e.g. in global health, to be able to research across multiple languages.
This has been an issue I’ve come up against when working on global health—a funder might express an interest in learning about funding opportunities in e.g. South America or South East Asia, and this is challenging to research because of the language issue.
Multilingual web searching and browsing
Effective altruism, epistemic institutions
Despite the capability of automated translation, there is no smooth way to browse the web in multiple languages. It would be useful to have search engines return results from any language, with the results automatically translated into English. When you click on them, you then go to a web page automatically translated into English and can continue browsing in English. This seems important for EA because EA research currently relies primarily on English resources, and this could be causing bias in EA research. It would also be useful for other researchers and policy people working on global issues, e.g. in global health, to be able to research across multiple languages.
This has been an issue I’ve come up against when working on global health—a funder might express an interest in learning about funding opportunities in e.g. South America or South East Asia, and this is challenging to research because of the language issue.