Canadian creates translation app to help him argue with Chinese parents (PHOTOS)
Canadian entrepreneur Joshua Gao created the translation appĀ Binko Chat to help him communicate with his parents.
Gao’s parents immigrated from China to Canada 30 years ago, and he grew up speaking conversational Chinese at home.
“If I ever got into a debate, a fight, or a conversation about life with my parents, either I wouldn’t be able to find the right Chinese words, or my parents couldn’t say it in English,” he told Daily Hive.
“I can’t count the number of moments that were lost in translation and misunderstanding,” he added.
He shared this adorable picture of himself with his parents.
Binko Chat
One weekend, Gao says he realized that by utilizing advancements in AI technology, he could create an app to naturally translate conversations between languages.
Finally, with the power of AI, he thought, he could communicate with his parents like never before.
With the help of his friends, Duy Nguyen, Mogen Cheng and Tristan Tsvetanov, Gao was able to design and develop a live chat translation app.
This is how Binko Chat was born.
Gao gained over 12,000 likes when he shared this hilarious exchange with his mum on the Facebook page “subtle asian traits.”
Binko Chat
In case you didn’t know, “cap” is Gen Z slang for “lies.”
The translation app is capable of picking up on linguistic subtleties like colloquialisms, jargon and idioms.
Gao says this has helped him understand the language differences that previously limited communication with his parents. He hopes Binko Chat can help break down language barriers for others too.
He also shared this amusing screenshot of his family group chat with Daily Hive.
Binko Chat
Binko Chat was launched this month and already has over 10,000 downloads. Gao plans to continually update and improve the app’s translation abilities.
The translation app is currently able to support 15 languages, including Chinese languages, English, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese.
“Along current tech trends, I think we’ll be in a world with minimal to no language barriers in the next few years,” Gao said.
We want to hear what you think. Are you as optimistic as Gao about the future of translation? Have you had similar experiences, and would you consider using the app?
Let us know in the comments.
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