NPR:
To stay on top of what's going on in the Middle East and South
Asia, US political scientists, historians, and even the
Pentagon are studying social media such as Facebook, Twitter,
and blog posts. Because the posts are written in the local
languages, computer translation programs that can not only
translate the words but also convey the subtler nuances of
sentiment and opinion are being researched. Funded by the
Pentagon, a computer scientist at the University of Buffalo in
New York, Rohini Srihari, has developed a natural language
program that has "learned" the nuances of Urdu—a mix of
Hindi and Persian that uses Arabic script and is spoken in
Pakistan. According to Srihari, the program can extract factual
information as well as positive or negative sentiment and
opinion. Although Srihari acknowledges that the program is not
perfect, she has gained "insight into what Urdu speakers have
been talking about lately," according to Christopher Joyce
reporting for NPR.
