Reddit had a problem for many users - the language barrier - and it looks like artificial intelligence is going to save this popular social network from being stuck only for English readers.
Now, the social network is bringing machine learning-powered translations to more than 35 new locations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America in a move designed to open up Reddit, largely English-centric, to more users.
The site already allows users to stipulate their preferred content language for post recommendations, as well as set their viewing language that translates to Reddit's own interface.
Reddit's new translation feature is that users can set both posts and corresponding comments to be automatically translated from a community's original language into the user's own language according to their Reddit settings. This means that a conversation can flow on a given subreddit between two different languages, and users won't have to manually translate each reply. You can post in any language you want, and as long as Reddit supports it, it will be automatically translated into the community's preset language.
To do this, users in supported locales will see anew translation icon in their menu that will allow them to view content in their preferred language.
Posts posts that have been translated by Reddit will be labeled as such, and users will be able to choose to view posts in the original language if they wish.
Reddit does not describe all the new languages it will support, but the translation service is already available in Brazil and Spain as of today. It also added that it plans to expand AI-powered translations to Germany, Italy, the Philippines, and Latin American markets "in the coming weeks."
