Category: international aid

AI Agents, AI Tools, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains, content creation, Healtlh, international aid, linguistics

Saving Lost Tongues: How Artificial Intelligence Is Rescuing Endangered Languages

Yogi Nelson

by Yogi Nelson

Welcome to the BlockchainAIForum

The Silent Crisis of Language Loss

Linguistics was perhaps my favorite course at UCLA, outside of my major. Now that I am fully bilingual (English/Spanish) I appreciate languages all the more. Sadly, according to UNESCO, nearly 3,000 of the 7,000 languages spoken today are endangered. When a language dies, we lose more than words—we lose culture, identity, history, and unique worldviews. Language extinction is not just a linguistic issue; it is a humanitarian, cultural, and intellectual emergency.

Yet, amid this somber trend, a surprising ally has emerged: artificial intelligence. By combining linguistic data with machine learning, AI technologies are helping linguists, activists, and communities revive, preserve, and revitalize languages that might otherwise be lost forever. A big thumbs up for AI!

AI as the Unexpected Hero

AI’s applications in language preservation range from documentation to real-time translation and learning tools. Its capacity to process vast quantities of linguistic data at scale and speed makes it uniquely suited to the challenge. A report by Apolitical highlights how AI can assist in phonetic transcription, text-to-speech synthesis, and pattern recognition in oral languages that lack written forms. This is particularly valuable for Indigenous languages that are at high risk of extinction and often lack sufficient resources for traditional preservation methods (Apolitical, 2023).

Language Documentation and Digitization

One of AI’s most impactful roles is in automating the documentation of endangered languages. In collaboration with linguists and local speakers, AI systems can transcribe audio recordings, identify grammatical patterns, and store this data in accessible databases. For example, researchers at Dartmouth College are using AI to create digital corpora of endangered languages, incorporating video, audio, and written materials. These databases help in both linguistic research and language learning, empowering communities to pass their heritage to future generations (Dartmouth University, 2023). AI models can also fill in linguistic gaps using predictive techniques, enabling linguists to reconstruct partially lost grammar or vocabulary. While this work must be handled with care to avoid misrepresentation, it can offer valuable starting points for revitalization.

Reviving Oral Traditions

Many endangered languages are primarily oral. This poses a major challenge for preservation, as traditional language models rely heavily on text. AI-driven speech recognition and synthesis technologies are now being trained on oral languages, allowing researchers to create spoken dictionaries and learning apps tailored to specific dialects.

Deepgram’s article *Reviving Lost Tongues* discusses how voice AI can listen to native speakers, learn unique phonetic features, and generate accurate digital representations. This technology is particularly impactful in remote regions, where connectivity and educational resources are limited (Deepgram, 2024). In turn, AI-generated learning platforms can teach these languages to new generations, often through mobile apps, chatbots, and interactive audio tools. As these platforms evolve, they are becoming increasingly immersive and engaging, helping young people reconnect with ancestral tongues.

Community Empowerment Through Technology

It is essential that AI-driven language preservation efforts are inclusive and community-led. Technology must not replace native speakers; it should empower them. Collaborations between AI researchers and Indigenous communities are crucial. These partnerships ensure that cultural context is preserved, and that AI systems respect linguistic diversity without standardizing or homogenizing it. Community-driven datasets, ethical data governance, and open-source tools are key to achieving this.

Blockchain can also support this mission by providing decentralized ownership of linguistic data. Communities can retain control over how their language resources are shared, monetized, or used in research—fostering sovereignty and trust.

Challenges and Ethical Considerations

Despite its promise, AI in language preservation is not without challenges. Bias in training data, insufficient representation of rare languages, and ethical concerns about data usage all require careful management. There is also a risk that AI models may reinforce colonial hierarchies if not developed in consultation with Indigenous peoples.

Moreover, building high-quality datasets for AI training demands time, funding, and access—resources that are often scarce in endangered-language communities. Sustainable investment, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical AI design are therefore essential.

The Future: A World Rich in Voices

The use of AI to preserve and revitalize dying languages is still in its early stages, but it offers a transformative path forward. By supporting documentation, education, and community empowerment, AI tools can breathe new life into languages on the brink of extinction. In the words of a researcher cited by Dartmouth University, “Each language is a world. When we save one, we preserve a way of understanding the human experience.”

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson

p.s. Happy Birthday to my son Marcel–who will soon be a father also! He has decided to dedicated 2026 to be the year of improving his Spanish speaking abilities and I couldn’t be happier!

Sources

– AI: The Unexpected Hero in the Battle to Save Dying Languages, Apolitical, 2023.
– Language Preservation Efforts Get an AI Boost, Dartmouth University, 2023.

–UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.
– Reviving Lost Tongues: How AI Battles Language Extinction, Deepgram, 2024.

AI Agents, AI Tools, Artificial Intelligence, Banking, Blockchains, cryptography, Decentralized, Digital Currency, international aid, International Finance, Productivity, Science, Uncategorized, Yogi Nelson

The Advantages of Stablecoins for Sending Remittances and International Payments

Yogi Nelson

🌍💸

By Yogi Nelson

Welcome to the BlockchainAIForum where your technology questions are answered. Today we answer the following question: What are the advantages of stablecoins to transmit remittances and international payments?

Sending money across borders has long been expensive, slow, and sometimes unreliable. Millions of families around the world rely on remittances—money sent home by people working abroad. Traditional methods often take days to arrive and cost a big chunk of the amount sent in fees.

Enter stablecoins: a type of cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to a traditional currency like the U.S. dollar. While “crypto” might sound complicated or risky, stablecoins have clear advantages for cross-border payments—especially for everyday people who just want to get money to loved ones quickly and cheaply. Below, let’s explore what makes stablecoins such a game-changer for international payments.

🕰️ 1️⃣ Faster Transfers

Traditional money transfers often rely on banks and money transfer operators. These institutions use old payment networks that involve multiple middlemen. It can take 2–5 business days for the money to arrive. I can speak from personal experience–too slow in today’s world.

✅ With stablecoins:

  • Transfers are nearly instant or settle in minutes.
  • Blockchain networks operate 24/7, including weekends and holidays.

Example: Sending USDC (a popular U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin) from the U.S. to someone in Panama can take under 10 minutes, compared to days via bank wires.

💰 2️⃣ Lower Fees

Sending money internationally is notoriously expensive. According to the World Bank, the average remittance fee is around 6% globally—and even higher in some regions. Banco Popular charged me $100 to send $5,000 to Panama. Way too expensive!

✅ Stablecoins reduce fees because:

  • No need for multiple banks to process the payment.
  • No foreign exchange markup if both sender and receiver use the same stablecoin (e.g., USDC, USDT).

Example:

  • $100 sent via Western Union might cost $6–10 in fees.
  • $100 sent as a stablecoin can cost under $1 in network fees, depending on the blockchain used.

🌐 3️⃣ Global Accessibility

Many people in developing countries do not have bank accounts. But they often have smartphones. Stablecoins can be sent, received, and stored on mobile wallets, without the need for a traditional bank.

✅ Key benefits:

  • Financial inclusion for the unbanked or underbanked.
  • Access to USD-equivalent value without needing a dollar bank account.

Example: A worker in the U.S. can send USDC to a family member in El Salvador who holds it in a smartphone wallet, without needing local bank infrastructure.

💵 4️⃣ Protection Against Local Currency Volatility

In some countries, local currencies lose value quickly due to inflation. Receiving money in local currency may mean losing purchasing power almost immediately.

✅ Stablecoins help by:

  • Being pegged to stable currencies like USD.
  • Preserving value across borders and over time.

Example: A family in Argentina might prefer to receive USDC instead of pesos, protecting their remittance from inflation.

🔐 5️⃣ Transparency and Security

Stablecoin transactions are recorded on blockchains, which are public, auditable ledgers. This adds an extra layer of security and transparency.

✅ Advantages:

  • Sender and receiver can track the transfer in real-time.
  • Less risk of funds being lost in transit.
  • Resistant to censorship and freezes compared to some traditional systems.

⚡️ How Does It Work in Practice?

Here’s a simplified step-by-step:

  1. Sender buys stablecoins on an exchange or app.
  2. Sender transfers stablecoins to the recipient’s wallet address.
  3. Recipient receives them instantly or in minutes.
  4. Recipient can hold them, spend them where accepted, or convert to local currency.

This simple flow cuts out middlemen and delays.

🌟 Conclusion: A Better Way to Send Money

Stablecoins are not just a trend. They offer real, practical benefits for millions who rely on international payments:

  • ✅ Faster delivery times.
  • ✅ Lower costs.
  • ✅ Greater accessibility.
  • ✅ Protection from inflation.
  • ✅ Transparent and secure transactions.

Of course, challenges remain, like educating users, ensuring good regulation, and making stablecoins easy to cash out locally. But as adoption grows, these hurdles are being addressed.

For many families, stablecoins are already changing the way money crosses borders, making remittances fairer and more efficient.

💬 My closing thought comes from Ethiopia where they say: “a fool is thirsty in the midst of water.” If you have thoughts or questions about stablecoins and remittances, drop them in the comments below!

Until Next time,

Yogi Nelson

Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains, cryptography, Digital Currency, international aid, International Finance, Uncategorized, Yogi Nelson

Understanding Blockchain Adoption in Uzbekistan

Yogi Nelson

Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your technology questions are answered!  Today’s question: are blockchain and crypto currency adoption all the rage in Uzbekistan?

Seventeen years.  Yes, only 17 years.  In just 17 years, blockchain based projects, including bitcoin, starting from nothing, and all the while battling powerful incumbents, have spread far, wide, and fast to reach places, and spaces, that are distant and unfamiliar to most Westerns.  Today, I’ll highlight just one example of this phenomenon, the nation of Uzbekistan.  Let’s start with the obvious—where is Uzbekistan?

Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia.  Along with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, they were all former USSR republics.  Uzbekistan was part of the ancient silk road–a trade networks that connected China with Western Europe.  Although the silk road occurred more than half a millennia ago, Uzbekistan remains connected to the broader world, this time via blockchain and crypto-currency.  Let’s jump five centuries to the 21st.

Setting the Regulatory Stage: The National Agency of Perspective Projects, (NAPP) is the government body that regulates and licenses crypto in Uzbekistan.  In 2022, Uzbek President, Shavkaat Mirziyoyev, ordered NAPP to develop crypto regulations.  NAPP listened and took action.  By early 2023, crypto regulations were in place; by year’s end the first crypto license was issued!  Impressive.  Hold on, the news gets better.  Earlier this year, NAPP authorized Biance, the world’s largest crypto currency exchange, to offer services in Uzbekistan.  Customers are now able to deposit and withdraw funds in the national currency, the Soum, and conduct a wide range of transactions.  More on that in a moment.

What Happened After Crypto Regulations Were Adopted: Since adoption of clear and reasonable crypto regulations, development and usage of crypto in Uzbekistan has skyrocketed.  According to Coin Geek, a journal dedicated to the crypto world, Uzbekistan lacked behind its four Central Asian neighbors prior to 2022.  Not anymore.  Now it’s a leader.  As of this date, there are 15 licensed firms in Uzbekistan and total transactions surpassed $1B in 2024.  Awesome. Moreover, over 500,000 Uzbeks have digital assets—about 2% of the population.  The Uzbek government collected over $3M in fees and revenues in 2024.  This year the government announced an increase in crypto related fees.  What a surprise!  Lol.

Why Crypto Surged—3 Reasons:  Did a crypto friendly government policy trigger the crypto tsunami?  In part, yes.  When Uzbekistan created clear and stable regulations there was a favorable market reaction.  However, government regulations did not create demand; a market for these assets and products existed a-priori.  Crypto in Uzbekistan, and in every nation, is a counter narrative to the existing status quo and a solution to market demand. I’ll give you three specific reasons for the flood of crypto in Uzbekistan, starting with seamless cross-border transactions.

Uzbekistan has a long history of cross-border finance transactions, going all the way back to the silk road, as previously noted.  United Nations data reveals that in 2024, $14B worth of remittances occurred in Uzbekistan.  Stable-coins facilitate fast, easy, and affordable cross border transactions, hence the demand for crypto. 

Reason two is inflation.  Inflation in Uzbekistan ran at 10% in 2024.  Inflation is effectively a “hidden tax” because it erodes purchasing power of middle/lower-income families.  Almost all stable coins are denominated in U.S. dollars. Therefore, although the has been inflation in the US, it is nowhere near 10%, hence that makes dollar based stable coins a hedge against currency inflation. 

Third reason is speculation, plain and simple.  An honest analysis must acknowledge reality—many crypto projects amount to gambling and speculation.  Not a judgement; just an honest assessment.  Apparently folks in Uzbekistan like risk and freedom to choose.   

Time to end with a proverb from Uzbekistan, where they say: “it is not the eyes that are blind, but the heart”.

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson

Artificial Intelligence, Banking, Blockchains, cryptography, Digital Currency, European Central Bank, international aid, Productivity, Yogi Nelson

Central Banks Embrace AI: Opportunities and Risks

Yogi Nelson

Namaste Yogis.   Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your technology questions are answered!   Here no question is too mundane.  As a bonus, a proverb is also included.  Today’s question comes from Felipe and he asks whether central bankers view AI as a friend or a foe?

Felipe, you came to the right place.  AI is poised to affect our daily lives in ways we cannot fully anticipate.  However, I suspected central bankers have been pondering what AI might mean for their operations for some time.  That’s why I turned to Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for answers to your question.  Before I share their assessment, a few words about the BIS.

The BIS is located in Switzerland.  Its mission is to support central banks’ pursuit of monetary and financial stability through international cooperation, and to act as a bank for central banks.  To fulfill its mission the BIS conducts extensive research on emerging banking trends, including technology.  To no surprise I discovered a recent BIS report, titled:  Generative Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security in Central Banking.  https://www.bis.org/publ/bppdf/bispap145.pdf   Let’s examine the report.

BIS conducted a survey of central bank chief information security officers.  Thirty-two responded.  The purpose was to investigate the link between generative AI and cyber risk and to identify the opportunities and challenges that central banks see in the adoption of generative AI tools. According to BIS, the survey was guided by four broad considerations:

1) What is the current status of generative AI adoption by central banks?

2) How do central banks evaluate the benefits and challenges for cyber security associated with the use of generative AI?

3) How prepared are central banks for the “AI revolution” and its expected impact on cyber security and data protection?

4) What are the key strategic, ethical and regulatory concerns regarding generative AI adoption in cyber security?

The findings are below:

Generative AI is Already Here.  The large majority of central banks report are using generative AI tools or are planning to do so soon. Respondents indicated that generative AI offers more benefits than risks, especially with regard to cyber threat detection.

Generative AI Can Outperform Existing Systems but Comes with Risk. The benefits are largely related to automation of routine tasks traditionally performed by humans. However, they also include enhanced threat detection, faster response times to cyber-attacks, learning new trends, and anomalies or correlations that might not be obvious to human analysts. What about the risk?  AI can introduce new vulnerabilities into central banks’ cyber security defenses related to social engineering and zero-day attacks as well as unauthorized data disclosure, are the BIS’ findings.

Employees Preparation.  A general concern is whether bank personnel have sufficient knowledge of AI methodologies and cyber security.  The “good news” is thatgenerative AI could replace staff in cyber security for routine tasks and this shift could free up resources to be reallocated towards more strategic cyber security initiatives, potentially increasing productivity. Nevertheless, AI requires human supervision to ensure ethical and accurate outcomes and continuously train the AI systems.

Reactive to Proactive.  Survey respondents agree generative AI systems will facilitate a shift from a reactive to a proactive approach to predicting and neutralizing threats. A critical consideration is the extent of autonomy to be granted to AI tools in cyber security and the nature of their interaction with humans.

On balance central bankers are committed to AI but will proceed with caution.

I end with a proverb from Belarus: “the sun will look into our window also”.

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson

Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains, China, international aid

IS CHINA USING ITS INTERNATIONAL AID TO PROMOTE ITS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECH AND GAIN MARKET DOMINANCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES?

Yogi Nelson

Namaste Yogis.   Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your technology questions are answered!   Here no question is too mundane.  As a bonus, a proverb is also included.  Today’s question, was submitted by Marcia in Palmdale, CA and she wants to know is China using its international aid to advance use of its artificial intelligence technology and gain market dominance in developing countries?

Marcia, you came to the right place.  You ask a tough question, fortunately there is an organization headquartered in Santa Monica, CA that researches the subject and their name is RAND.  RAND stands for Research and Development Corporation. Let’s understand RAND then answer your specific question.  

RAND is a non-profit public policy research organization.  RAND was established in 1948 with the intent of providing non-partisan policy research and analysis.  Almost 100% of RAND’s 1,800 research staff members have either a Ph.D. or master’s degree.   With seven offices spread across the globe in the USA, UK, and Australia, RAND has a worldwide audience.  Last year RAND launched 800+ new research projects funded by more than 350 clients.  RAND conducts policy research across 10 subjects, including national security.  Bottom line–RAND is an impressive research organization consisting of brainy people.  Holy nerds, Batman!  Now let’s turn to the question asked by Marcia.

According to RAND, at $85B per year, China is the world leader in development finance.  USA development finance falls a far second at only $45B per year.  RAND says, Chinese tech companies can use this large government funding support to deploy state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) tools in development contracts in recipient countries. And therefore, the AI exports facilitated by these arrangements are likely to bolster China’s growing global AI technology-related supply chains, trade flows, technology standards, and regulatory systems.  In other words, when China provides development finance (aid) to Pakistan, for example, the contract with Pakistan, will include conditions that require Pakistan to use Chinese AI technology.  Holy foot in the door, Batman! 

Given the situation, RAND’s national security team was contracted (they don’t say by whom, but you can safety assume a branch of the U.S. government) to explore two questions:

1.  How can China’s AI exports be systematically tracked and analyzed using reliable data sources?

2.  What would promote a better understanding of the global landscape of China’s AI exports?

China does not participate in the International Aid Transparency Initiative.  Hence, researchers tracked Chinese development finance by receiving countries. Researchers used OCED (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) data in their research. The dataset captured all official financial and in-kind commitments from China from 2000–2021 to developing countries.

First, let’s look at the published findings of the 33-page report.   https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2696-1.html  followed by a few words regarding unpublished findings, as perhaps those too are interesting. 

Reported Findings:

  • Researchers discovered 155 AI applications and AI infrastructure projects that were exported to 64 countries
  • The researchers used GIS to map their findings.  Although Pakistan was the largest beneficiary, the map clearly shows most Chinese aid was dedicated to African nations.   

Unreported Findings:

The report has six blank pages and no explanation for the blank pages is offered. The blank pages are not labeled, “Intentionally Left Blank”.  The pages are simply blank with no explanation whatsoever.  And no mention of what who paid for the report!  Holy mystery, Batman!

I end with a proverb from Pakistan:  The friend appears in hard times, not at big dinners.

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson