AI-powered translation app Tarjimly bridges language gaps for refugees
Tarjimly co-founder Atif Javed presents his app at the Google Impact Summit on Sept. 4, 2024, in Sunnyvale, Calif. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada)
In a world where effective communication can mean the difference between receiving critical aid or being left unheard, volunteer-run nonprofit Tarjimly has emerged as a game-changer.
Since 2017, this nonprofit has connected refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants with a vast network of volunteer translators through its mobile app. Designed to overcome language barriers, Tarjimly plays a crucial role in bridging communication gaps during medical, legal and governmental interactions.
The platform, often dubbed the “Uber for translators,” offers free, on-demand translation services, ensuring displaced individuals can navigate complex situations with confidence. With ongoing global crises exacerbating displacement, the demand for accessible language assistance has never been higher.
In 2024, Tarjimly took its mission a step further by integrating artificial intelligence into its system. This innovation enhances its ability to train large language models while maintaining a human-centric approach.
Volunteers provide real-time translations while also feeding data back into the AI, refining its accuracy over time. This human-machine collaboration ensures more precise translations, even for dialects and lesser-known languages.
Over the years, Tarjimly has significantly expanded its reach. In its latest impact report, the nonprofit revealed it had provided language assistance to over 609,000 refugees in 2024 alone.
The service facilitated 1,087,694 minutes of interpretation and 1,384,704 words translated, with an estimated value of $4.7 million in free services. The app also boasts a threefold social return on investment, proving its effectiveness in humanitarian efforts.
The most frequently assisted language groups include:
- Spanish and Haitian Creole: 5,964 sessions
- Swahili, Kinyarwanda, and Tigrinya: 9,164 sessions
- Ukrainian and Russian: 1,219 sessions
- Dari, Farsi, and Pashto: 12,981 sessions
- Burmese, Rohingya, and Bengali: 2,709 sessions
- French: 1,286 sessions
- Arabic: 5,514 sessions
With global displacement continuing to rise, Tarjimly remains committed to ensuring language is not a barrier to survival and dignity. By harnessing both AI and human expertise, the organization is paving the way for more inclusive communication solutions.
As they continue to expand, their mission remains clear: to make language accessibility a fundamental right for all.
