[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] Artificial intelligence (AI) translation and interpretation technology, which was previously used mainly in tourism and international conferences, is now making inroads into manufacturing and safety sites, such as shipyards. In industrial settings where reliance on foreign workers is increasing, language barriers directly lead to issues with work instructions and safety accidents; as a result, AI translation and interpretation is establishing itself as on-site infrastructure that supports productivity and safety.

According to the National Data Agency on the 11th, as of May 2025, the number of foreign workers in Korea reached a record high of 1,109,000. Of these, 498,000 (44.9%) are employed in mining and manufacturing. This means that roughly one in every two foreign workers in Korea is employed in a manufacturing setting.

However, language barriers remain. Among foreign workers holding E-9 (non-specialized employment) visas, only 21.5% rated their spoken Korean as “good.” The figure for listening comprehension stood at 25.4%. This is why communication between managers and foreign workers has emerged as a critical challenge in manufacturing settings, where work instructions and safety guidelines must be conveyed quickly and accurately.

Cutting Through the Noise of Welding and Punching… AI Translation and Interpretation Hits the Shipyard

FLITTO Inc.(300080), an AI language data and solutions company, recently supplied its AI translation and interpretation solution to a major domestic shipyard, where it is being used for safety training and on-site communication with foreign workers.

Unlike typical office spaces, shipyards are environments where constant noise—such as the sounds of large machinery in operation, welding, and punching—makes it difficult to ensure accurate speech recognition. To address this, FLITTO Inc. has implemented a noise-canceling feature to filter out ambient noise and recognize speech more clearly.

The service supports up to 42 languages. In particular, Plito has focused on improving translation accuracy for Southeast Asian languages—such as Thai, Indonesian, and Vietnamese—which are frequently used by foreign workers at the shipyard.

On-site usage rates have also risen rapidly. According to FLITTO Inc., the percentage of active users—defined as directly employed foreign workers at the shipyard who used the service at least once during a specific period—rose from approximately 20% in the early stages of implementation to about 96% within three months. This means that virtually all directly employed foreign workers have now experienced the AI translation and interpretation service.

The scope of application is also expanding. Initially, the service was primarily used by managers to convey safety guidelines or work procedures to foreign workers and confirm their understanding. Recently, however, foreign workers have also been using it to report work progress or on-site issues to managers, transforming it from a one-way tool for work instructions into a two-way communication channel.

This demonstrates that the center of gravity in the AI translation and interpretation market is shifting from general-purpose translation to on-site, specialized services. Competitiveness is increasingly determined not just by the number of languages supported, but by how well translation accuracy is maintained in real-world work environments—including factors such as noise, accents, and industry-specific terminology.

The industry anticipates that demand for on-site AI translation and interpretation will grow even further, particularly in the manufacturing sector, which relies heavily on foreign workers. An IT industry official stated, “In industries like shipbuilding and manufacturing, where noise levels are high and safety instructions are critical, AI translation and interpretation will establish itself as infrastructure that simultaneously enhances work efficiency and safety, going beyond a mere convenience feature.”

AI Interpretation Spreading to the Classroom… An Era of 200,000 Multicultural Students

Demand for AI translation and interpretation is also growing in educational settings. Last year, the number of students in Korea with an immigrant background exceeded 200,000 for the first time. As the number of students and parents who speak different languages increases, the demand for interpretation is rising not only in classrooms but also in student guidance and parent-teacher conferences.

Chungnam Dauri School, a multicultural educational institution in South Chungcheong Province, utilizes FLITTO Inc.’s AI translation and interpretation solutions. The school takes in multicultural and international students who struggle to adapt to regular schools for a set period, provides them with Korean language and academic instruction, and then helps them return to their original schools.

Previously, when explaining concepts in Korean—such as “fractions” in math—that required clarification, staff had to first break them down in Korean and then convey them in English or another language, which led to a situation where class time was disproportionately focused on specific students. Currently, the school uses “Live Translation,” a real-time interpretation and translation service, for parent information sessions and meetings, and “Chat Translation” for individual student learning and life guidance.

Usage is also increasing in university classrooms. In the “Entertainment Industry Theory” course at Kyung Hee University’s Graduate School of Business, FLITTO Inc.’s Live Translation is used to convert the professor’s lectures into multilingual text in real time, helping international students better understand the material. Seoul National University, Korea University, Incheon National University, and Seoul Theological University are also utilizing FLITTO Inc.’s AI translation and interpretation solutions.

According to FLITTO Inc., the number of educational institutions adopting its AI translation and interpretation solutions has increased by 350% compared to the previous year and by 1,200% compared to two years ago. Universities are also moving beyond mere translation and interpretation to expand into “digital lecture archives”—which store real-time lecture content as data for later reuse by date, subject, or topic—and personalized AI learning services.

Lee Jeong-soo, CEO of FLITTO Inc., stated, “We will support the education sector in building global competitiveness by systematically establishing educational data based on AI translation and interpretation.”