Giving Compass' Take:

• John Waters explains how companies are leveraging AI technology to teach Mandarin Chinese. 

• How can funders ensure that this type of technology reaches the people who need it most? 

• Learn how language apps can provide value for refugees. 

Artificial intelligence is well on its way to becoming a ubiquitous element in virtually all software systems. The once novel technology behind chess- and gameshow-playing computers is all but commonplace today; it’s in everything from medical diagnostic applications to Gmail spam filters—and as some high school and college students are finding out, a new generation of online tools for foreign language learning.

Ponddy Education, for example, is a San Jose, Calif.-based startup whose flagship products rely on AI technologies to help students learn one of the most difficult languages for non-native native speakers to master: Mandarin Chinese.

Strictly speaking, AI refers to a branch of computer science that focuses on machine intelligence (as opposed to natural or human intelligence). But as the term is popularly applied today, it refers to computer programming that allows machines to learn from experience, adjust to new data inputs and perform human-like tasks.

Read the full article about AI to teach Mandarin Chinese by John Waters at EdSurge.