The National Weather Service (NWS) has halted its automated language translation services until further notice, potentially hindering the millions of U.S. residents who speak a language other than English from accessing lifesaving information at a time when climate change is exacerbating extreme weather events, experts say.
The pause was “due to a contract lapse” with an artificial intelligence firm providing the translation services, according to a message from the agency this month.
In October 2023, the NWS announced that its forecasters had been working with the machine learning company Lilt to train AI software on weather-related terminology in Spanish and simplified Chinese. It also went on to offer translations in French, Samoan and Vietnamese. According to a U.S. Census report, 67.8 million people in the United States spoke a language other than English at home in 2019.
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