Government forms can often be a maze of unfamiliar terminology, and that might be doubly true if the paperwork isn’t in one’s native language.

That’s why the state of New Jersey has turned to generative AI to make its unemployment insurance application process easier for both English and Spanish speakers, with support from the nonprofit US Digital Response.

That team now wants to help other governments do the same with a new open-source toolkit designed for states developing their own custom translation assistants using off-the-shelf LLMs. Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, has also lent its backing.

New Jersey’s own generative AI translation tools, part of a broader modernization of the state’s unemployment system, are internal and not consumer-facing, meaning that a human employee always has oversight of the process.

The state’s previous unemployment insurance application system, which had been in place since the mid-1990s, offered only a Google Translate dropdown for non-English speakers, according to Gillian Gutierrez, senior advisor and director of NJ Unemployment Insurance Modernization.

But as anybody who’s used classic Google Translate knows, its output can be clunky and especially risky when dealing with legally precise language. One of the first steps in the overhaul process was to define common terms like “able and available” and the difference between “fired” and “laid off” in plain language, then translate to Spanish.

The team also pulled in the knowledge of call center agents who were on the front lines of dealing with these questions. “We poured in their knowledge of the different ways that they might have to explain those terms, given if the person is of Ecuadorian descent, or the person is of Dominican descent, or the person is of Mexican descent,” Gutierrez said.

Keep reading here.—PK

Google DeepMind has found a new way of using generative AI to more accurately model weather predictions, and it could take the forecasting world by storm.

The search giant’s research arm recently unveiled GenCast, an AI model that researchers say can beat the world’s leading forecasting system on projections up to 15 days in advance, including everyday weather and extreme weather events.

The release marks the latest milestone in the evolution of AI-based weather forecasting, which researchers hope can push the science beyond the limits of traditional physical simulations. Doing so could be especially important at a time when the climate crisis has made accurate predictions tougher but also more critical to decision-makers.

Beating its own record: GenCast improves upon a previous model that Google DeepMind released about a year ago that the company also said could outperform leading forecasting computers. Unlike that last model, which provided a single best guess of the weather, GenCast offers something called an ensemble forecast, a set of 50 or more possible weather scenarios.

Keep reading here.—PK

Looking to purge your inbox, knock out some shopping, or tackle a deadline on your next flight? A new report found that checking items off your to-do list while you fly could be increasingly common in the years to come.

According to a report from Novaspace, a space tech consulting firm, the business of staying connected in midair is rapidly growing, and airlines are investing in the technology. By 2033, more than 60,800 aircraft will have in-flight internet connectivity, according to the report, a projected 60% rise from 2023. The increase is due in part to the availability of satellite services like Starlink and OneWeb.

In October, Qatar Airways debuted free high speed internet via Starlink for its passengers, including the ability to text, stream, and chat, joining United Airlines, Air France, and Hawaiian Airlines, among others.

According to the Novaspace report, non-geostationary orbit satellite services could “revolutionize in-flight connectivity by offering greater bandwidth at reduced capacity costs.”

Keep reading here.—PB

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