How cool would it be if artificial intelligence (AI) could learn American Sign Language? Well, there is a student in India named Priyanjali Gupta who created an AI model that turned sign language into English. Gupta was a 3rd-year engineer from India’s Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). She created an AI model that can translate American Sign Language into English in real-time. As reported by an Inquirer.net article, “She invented the AI model using Tensorflow object detection API that translates hand gestures using transfer learning from a pre-trained model named ssd_mobilenet.” When Gupta signed basic signs such as Hello, I Love You, Thank You, Please, Yes, and No, the AI managed to translate those to English.
Despite how amazing this revolutionary invention is, there is still a question to be answered… Is learning American Sign Language from an AI a good idea?
While it’s remarkable that individuals create inventions such as AIs that are able to translate ASL to English expecting to bridge the communication gap between the hearing people and the Deaf, it is probably not ideal and realistic to learn ASL from AIs for a number of good reasons.
Check out the infographic below to know why.

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