Why can’t we rely on English-only models?

English-only models fail to capture local languages and cultural nuances, leading to generic or inappropriate responses; localised models improve user trust and adoption.

What are examples of local AI models in Southeast Asia?

SEA-LION supports 11 regional languages; Malaysia’s ILMU and Singapore's SEA-LION focus on Malay and other local languages; Bhashini in India and Sahabat-AI in Indonesia show region-wide efforts.

What challenges arise when building multilingual AI?

Dialect variation, data scarcity and differences between languages, such as Malay and Indonesian, require careful data collection and adaptation strategies.

Back to Guides

Guide

Intermediate

ChatGPT

Developers and Product Managers

Southeast Asia

Localised AI Models: Building and Deploying AI for Southeast Asia's Languages & Cultures

Localized AI; Multilingual; Cultural Nuance

AI Snapshot

The TL;DR: what matters, fast.

Localising both language and cultural behaviour ensures AI interacts naturally with communities; Asia is building AI that speaks local languages.
Use a framework: collect local data → train multilingual models → adapt tone and cultural references → test with native speakers.
Address challenges like dialect variation, scarce data and differences between languages such as Malay and Indonesian.

Perfect For

Developers, product managers and local startups building AI tools for Southeast Asian markets.

Southeast Asia’s linguistic diversity demands AI systems that understand local languages and cultural cues. Home-grown models like SEA-LION, ILMU and Bhashini illustrate the region’s commitment to building culturally aware AI.

Foundations of Localised AI

Language is more than translation; it conveys culture. AI must grasp idioms, context and etiquette. Models like SEA-LION support over 11 regional languages, while ILMU and Bhashini serve Malay and other communities.

Framework for Building Localised Models

Gather diverse datasets from local sources, collaborate with native speakers, incorporate dialect variations, train multilingual models and iterate with user feedback to refine tone and context.

Common Challenges and Solutions

Dialect variation, scarce labelled data and differences between similar languages pose challenges. Use transfer learning, community data collection and cross-lingual techniques to address these issues.

Enjoying this? Get more in your inbox.

Weekly AI news & insights from Asia.

Prompts

Data Collection

Plan local language data collection

As a product manager building a language model for Thai and Lao, describe how you would collect and curate a balanced dataset, including public data, community input and ethical considerations.

Cultural Nuance

Adapt AI responses culturally

You are developing a chatbot for Malaysian users. Provide guidelines to ensure the bot's responses reflect local etiquette, respectfulness and common idioms.

Multilingual Testing

Evaluate multilingual model performance

Design a test plan to assess a multilingual AI model across Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog and Vietnamese. Include metrics, user feedback loops and strategies to handle code-switching.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to experiment?

Pick one of these prompts and see where it takes you. The interesting bit is not just getting results - it is discovering what happens when you tweak the parameters or combine different approaches. If you end up with something unexpected (whether that is brilliantly unexpected or amusingly terrible), we would genuinely love to see it.

Share your results, your variations, or the weird tangents you went down trying to get things just right. That is often where the best insights come from: the collective trial and error of people actually using these tools in practice.

And if you found this useful, we have got plenty more practical how-to guides covering everything from creating images for your blog to helping you automate boring work tasks. Each one is built the same way: real techniques, actual examples, no fluff.

Liked this? There's more.

Join our weekly newsletter for the latest AI news, tools, and insights from across Asia. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!