Bringing Romani into the Future of AI: ERIAC Launches AMARI ČHIB with Support from Microsoft
As artificial intelligence increasingly shapes how people access information, communicate, and learn, the question of which languages are represented in these systems becomes even more important. For Romani, spoken by millions of Roma across Europe, yet still largely absent from digital infrastructures and AI technologies, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity.
To address this gap, the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), with support from the Microsoft Open Innovation Center (MOIC) and Microsoft AI for Good Lab, is launching AMARI ČHIB (Our Language), an initiative dedicated to strengthening the presence of Romani in the digital age.
Despite being one of Europe’s largest minority languages, Romani remains significantly underrepresented in AI systems due to limited digitised content, fragmented language resources, and a lack of technological infrastructure. As a result, Roma communities risk being excluded from emerging language technologies and digital tools that increasingly shape everyday life.
AMARI ČHIB seeks to change this by creating the foundations for a community-led Romani AI ecosystem. The initiative will support the development of Romani language datasets, the digitisation of linguistic and cultural materials, and the creation of an open-access archive that can serve both communities and future AI applications. The project will also explore AI-powered tools for language learning, translation, and speech technologies, helping ensure that Romani is represented in the technologies of tomorrow.
The initiative builds on ERIAC’s ongoing work to preserve, promote, and strengthen the Romani language. Through its Romani Language Initiative, ERIAC has brought together linguists, educators, artists, and community representatives to advance the harmonization of Romani language dialects, develop educational resources, and promote language rights across Europe. AMARI ČHIB extends this work into the field of artificial intelligence, recognizing that language preservation today also requires meaningful participation in digital environments.
Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab supports projects around the world that apply artificial intelligence to social and cultural challenges. Through this collaboration, ERIAC and Microsoft will work together to explore how AI can contribute to the preservation and development of Romani, while ensuring that technological innovation reflects Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity.
More than a technology project, AMARI ČHIB is an investment in cultural continuity, digital inclusion, and the future of one of Europe’s most vibrant languages. By bringing Romanes into the AI era, the initiative seeks to ensure that Roma communities are not only represented in the digital future, but actively help shape it.
