This article highlights “the important roles of AI-based speech technologies in the digital preservation of Nagaland’s oral traditions such as fairy tales, songs, myths, and community stories”. Nagaland is a state located in the north-eastern part of India. The region is inhabited by various tribes with diverse languages and traditions. In the absence of a documented writing system, oral traditions have been used to preserve the Naga myths and traditions across generations. However, these traditions are declining because of lifestyle changes, urban migration, and the growing use of English and Hindi over indigenous languages. When elders pass away without their cultural knowledge and wisdom being recorded or documented, the traditions associated with them may become extinct. The oral traditions can be recorded, digitised, documented, and archived. The recorded audio data can be processed and used in various AI-based speech applications. To preserve and promote Nagaland’s rich culture and traditions, the use of speech processing techniques and artificial intelligence (AI) may be an effective approach. This not only safeguards indigenous traditions but also contributes to the revitalisation of tribal culture. Recording oral histories of community elders in their local dialects will produce valuable audio data. Automatic speech recognition (ASR) is one of the popular AI-based speech technologies/applications. This system can recognise the recorded audio data and convert it into written text.
Nagaland is a multilingual state with several tribal languages belonging to the Tibeto-Burman language family. Developing AI-based speech recognition systems for these languages requires large amounts of training speech data. However, many of them lack sufficient audio databases and computational resources. This challenge can be solved through collaboration among the state government, researchers, and technologists. Consequently, financial support from the State Government is essential to advance research projects that focus on digital preservation of Nagaland’s oral traditions. To solve the speech data scarcity issue, a voice-based interactive storytelling app can be developed for data recording in native languages. Native speakers can narrate the community stories through the app, while users can listen and respond to the narration with their voice. This approach not only helps in countering the speech data scarcity but also bridges centuries-old community storytelling traditions with the help of modern digital tools, helping youth connect with their roots and strengthen their native language skills and knowledge of their history. This shows the importance of “language revitalisation” in oral traditions preservation. Language revitalisation in speech processing refers to the use of speech technology, such as speech recognition, to preserve, promote, and restore indigenous languages. The AI-based speech technology can be used for analysing linguistic information such as formants, tones and pitch, etc. Another application for the preservation of oral tradition is the AI-based speech translation system. Nagaland’s oral stories can be more easily translated into English or other Indian languages by using this approach. Every narrative can be made available in both the mother tongue of the storyteller and a common language, such as English, which will facilitate understanding for non-native speakers.
The capacity for intelligent archiving and material access management is another advantage of AI-based speech processing systems. The native language narrative story can be categorised using audio data, metadata, speech processing techniques and natural language processing (NLP). The recorded audio data is first converted into text using an ASR system. NLP is then used to organise the stories into categories such as creation myths, farming rituals, moral tales, or heroic legends. This AI-based system can be enhanced in line with human validation, which ensures that classifications are accurate. Finally, the classified information will be kept in searchable digital databases. Research scholars, educators, and community members will be able to access and listen to the community-related story resources, depending on the category. Along with the indigenous language preservation, this approach may be considered as one of the most fascinating ways of exploring the oral communities' stories. The speech technology and AI algorithms can be effectively used in oral culture preservation, community involvement is very crucial. By using speech recording mobile apps, the local community people can record the native stories, music, and rituals in audio format. This crowdsourcing data collection method can collect a large amount of speech data in an interesting way. The local youngsters can actively participate in this speech data collection and documentation process.
Despite the many benefits of AI for preserving oral traditions, ethical considerations must be taken into account when collecting the speech data. Some ritual songs and stories may be sacred to specific communities. This may raise the question of who will take responsibility for determining whether the speech data of certain stories should be publicly available online or not. Gathering information about oral practices should be done with proper approval and agreement from individuals and communities involved. Moreover, before sharing the data should ensure that the individual speakers have permitted their recordings to be shared with third parties, such as other researchers, scholars and organisations. While recording the speech data, intangible culture should be safeguarded from abuse. If the speech data is being recorded solely for a government research project, it should not be used for private commercial purposes.
In conclusion, AI-based speech technologies can serve as a viable platform for preserving Nagaland’s oral traditions. These technologies not only preserve indigenous traditions but also provide facilities such as interactive learning, speech translation, documentation and linguistic analysis. This can make younger generations more engaged in participating in the responsibility of preserving oral traditions. To achieve this goal, the knowledge about the speech processing techniques and AI algorithms should be spread to the youth of Nagaland. The rich oral legacy of Nagaland must be conserved, and its cultural voices should be continuously heard for many generations by using such meticulous measures.
Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editorial team includes Chubamenla, Asst. Professor Dept. of English and Rinsit Sareo, Asst. Manager, IT, Media & Communications. For feedback or comments please email: dot@tetsocollege.org
