Digitising Kannada: A work in progress
Explore the digital evolution of Kannada, highlighting challenges and advancements in language technology and cultural preservation.
From electronic typesetting to ASCII-based proprietary fonts to Unicode to AI-enabled translation, Kannada has come a long way in its digital journey. But Indian languages face unique challenges in today’s fast-evolving tech landscape, writes Shilpa Elizabeth
Updated - August 21, 2026 06:18 pm IST - Bengaluru
The quirks of automated translation often make for amusing anecdotes. | Photo Credit: IMAGING: SEBASTIAN FRANCIS
C.S. Yogananda, founder of Sriranga Digital Software Technologies, remembers a funny instance of coming across a post on X around two years ago. Originally written in Kannada, the post, after machine translation, took on an entirely different meaning.
In Kannada, he wrote ‘ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡಿದವರನ್ನ ಮರೀಬಾರ್ದು (Sahaya madidavaranna mareebardu), which translates to ‘One should not forget those who helped’. X’s default translation in 2024-25 read, “Kill those who helped you.”
Published - August 21, 2026 07:00 am IST
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