Hi Luke, Just played around with it … used German to query and I liked the responses ;-)
Great Job 😊 I asked it some questions I could see that had been asked before and it looked great. Chris Von: Luke Gao <[email protected]> Datum: Samstag, 12. September 2026 um 12:47 An: [email protected] <[email protected]> Betreff: Re: Using AI for translation? Hey LinkinStart, Christofer, for the AI translation button to translate question/answer before submitting, here's the issue and PR. Issue: https://github.com/apache/answer/issues/1610 PR: https://github.com/apache/answer/pull/1611 I've deployed thse changes to a test environment and you can visit https://answer-demo-gh-8b20709f.eastus.cloudapp.azure.com to play. user: [email protected]/123123123 (It's a test environment with mock data, so feel free to play with it) On Fri, Sep 11, 2026 at 7:05 PM Christofer Dutz <[email protected]> wrote: > Really looking forward to playing around with this 😉 > > Having the ASF knowledge in the asf answer instance and possibly having > Apache RAI help with providing the AI infrastructure, this could be a cool > thing for the foundation. > > Chris > > > Von: Luke Gao <[email protected]> > Datum: Freitag, 11. September 2026 um 10:42 > An: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Betreff: Re: Using AI for translation? > > Hi LinkinStar, glad that you agreed on the option 2 direction! I will do > some POC and continue the discussion in related issues/discussions. > > On Thu, Sep 10, 2026 at 5:27 PM LinkinStar <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi Han, > > > > Thank you for summarizing the options and the possible directions. > > > > First, Option 2—extending Answer through a local coding agent, CLI, and > > Skills—is a very good direction to explore. It could support multilingual > > use cases as well as broader integrations between Answer and AI agents. > We > > would be very happy to see your contribution. We can continue the > > discussion and refine the scope and technical design in the related > issue. > > > > For current requests, I suggest that we first take an approach that is > > simple to implement and can be validated quickly. The existing AI > Assistant > > can already help users ask in their preferred language and receive > answers > > in that language, so there is already a usable entry point for > > cross-language retrieval and Q&A. > > > > For users creating questions and answers, we could add an AI translation > > button. After writing their content, a user could click the button to > > translate it into the site’s designated content language. For example, > on a > > site where English is the primary content language, a question or answer > > written in German could be translated into English before submission. > > > > This approach has several benefits: > > > > - It is straightforward for users, who can draft content in their > preferred > > language. > > - Questions and answers remain stored in one common language, which helps > > search, moderation, duplicate detection, and long-term knowledge sharing. > > - Answer already has an AI provider, model, and prompt configuration, so > > this should be relatively simple to implement and validate based on the > > existing AI capabilities. > > - Users should always be able to review, edit, or discard the translated > > text before submitting it. > > > > As a later improvement, we could add a “Translate” action on questions, > > answers, and comments. It would translate the currently displayed content > > into the user’s interface language for reading. The original content > would > > remain the authoritative version, while the translation would be a > reading > > aid. > > > > This could be a practical first step: address language normalization when > > content is created while using the existing AI Assistant for multilingual > > retrieval. We can then improve on-demand translation, caching, provider > > selection, and other details based on real usage and further discussion. > > > > Best regards, > > LinkinStar > > > > On Wed, Sep 9, 2026 at 11:11 PM Han Gao <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Hey Christofer, > > > > > > Thanks for the clarification! I did some tests and here's something in > my > > > mind. Welcome any feedback! > > > > > > There're several ways to achieve the goal 'ask in A language and return > > in > > > A, while most questions/answers are B or others'. > > > Option 1 - use current AI capabilities in Answer. > > > You can enable AI and chat in 'AI Assistant', then ask in your prefered > > > language. Generally, it'll translate and return in your language. e.g. > I > > > asked in Chinese and returned in Chinese, and the question/answers were > > all > > > in English. *Screenshot is attached.* > > > > > > Option 2 - use local coding agent via CLI + SKILL (WIP) > > > > > > I saw there's a starter issue for this. > > > https://github.com/apache/answer/issues/1555. I do think it can also > > work > > > as the existing AI capabilities or even better. > > > > > > BTW, I guess this is a starter feature for this goal(CLI+SKILL). I'm > very > > > happy to contribute to make it come true. CC @fenbox @LinkinStar > > > > > > Option 3 - support translation for search/search result, and also > support > > > translating to target language for questions/answers/comments > > > > > > Option 4 - only support translation for search/search result, and > > leverage > > > browser translation feature to translate. > > > > > > Which option do you prefer? > > > Also + @fenbox @linkinstar to share if any comments. > > > Hope we can figure out a better user experience in the discussion! > > > > > > Han > > > > > > On Wed, Sep 9, 2026 at 1:13 AM Christofer Dutz < > > [email protected]> > > > wrote: > > > > > >> Yeah, > > >> > > >> So I know I’m good with English, but I know there are many people > (even > > >> at the ASF) which work and think in other languages. > > >> I just thought, if we allowed anyone to query our knowledge-bases and > > get > > >> responses in whatever language they like, this could be a great > feature. > > >> > > >> > > >> Chris > > >> > > >> > > >> Von: Han Gao <[email protected]> > > >> Datum: Dienstag, 8. September 2026 um 15:47 > > >> An: [email protected] <[email protected]> > > >> Betreff: Re: Using AI for translation? > > >> > > >> Hi Christofer, > > >> > > >> When you say "user asks a question in German", do you mean user ask in > > the > > >> search bar? Or something else? > > >> > > >> Per your statement, here's my understanding. *Let's assume the > majority > > >> language is English, and this user uses German. * > > >> 1. user search a question in German in search bar > > >> 2. service translate to English and search > > >> 3. return in the original language and render in German in search > result > > >> 4. when in specific question page, it can show in either German or > > >> origin(English) > > >> > > >> Is that what you mean? > > >> > > >> Han > > >> > > >> On Mon, Sep 7, 2026 at 4:59 PM Christofer Dutz < > > [email protected] > > >> > > > >> wrote: > > >> > > >> > Hi all, > > >> > > > >> > Ok … just wanted to make sure if it’s already in there and I just > need > > >> to > > >> > configure it. > > >> > If it’s not … yeah … I think this could be a huge benefit for users. > > >> > > > >> > Especially with the whole Apache RAI initiative, I could imagine > that > > >> the > > >> > ASF could possibly provide the infra/credits for running such a > > >> translation > > >> > service on the Apache hosted Apache Answer instance. > > >> > > > >> > Chris > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > Von: Feng Dong <[email protected]> > > >> > Datum: Montag, 7. September 2026 um 05:07 > > >> > An: [email protected] <[email protected]> > > >> > Betreff: Re: Using AI for translation? > > >> > > > >> > That's a good idea, I agree. > > >> > > > >> > LinkinStar <[email protected]> 于2026年9月7日周一 10:45写道： > > >> > > > >> > > Hi all, > > >> > > > > >> > > I think that's a good suggestion. Currently, in version 2.0 Apache > > >> > Answer, > > >> > > the AI serves only as a tool to assist with Q&A, helping users > find > > >> > answers > > >> > > more quickly and avoid duplicate questions. The addition of > > AI-powered > > >> > > automatic translation might help users who speak other languages > > >> quickly > > >> > > ask questions in English. > > >> > > > > >> > > Best regards, > > >> > > LinkinStar > > >> > > > > >> > > On Sun, Sep 6, 2026 at 12:38 AM Christofer Dutz < > > >> > [email protected] > > >> > > > > > >> > > wrote: > > >> > > > > >> > > > Hi all, > > >> > > > > > >> > > > I was brainstorming a bit about how we could possibly use Answer > > on > > >> a > > >> > > > foundation level. > > >> > > > > > >> > > > I’m still looking for ways we can all communicate in our own > > >> languages, > > >> > > so > > >> > > > I had a look if answer allowed using something like an AI > > >> translation > > >> > > > system. > > >> > > > If seems general support for AI accessing Answer seems to be > > >> available > > >> > > > since 2.0, but could Answer support using AI? > > >> > > > > > >> > > > I was thinking … possibly a knowledgeable is in English, but a > > user > > >> > asks > > >> > > a > > >> > > > question in German … it would be great if the translation > service > > >> could > > >> > > > translate the query to English, this could then be executed and > > then > > >> > the > > >> > > > result would be translated back to the original question > language. > > >> > > > > > >> > > > Has this been discussed? Is this possible? > > >> > > > > > >> > > > Chris > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > > > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > > > > -- > Thanks, > Luke > -- Thanks, Luke
