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AI-Powered Multilingual Translation for 311 Services

What it is for

Translation & Language Access
  • Enables 311 agents to serve residents in any of the 10 designated citywide languages via text and SMS. The system translates resident messages into English for the agent and translates agent replies back into the resident's chosen language, operating continuously across the SMS/text channel.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Run by
Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
No data retained
Shared with
Not stated by the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation.
Your copy
You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

Translation & Language Access

This tool automatically translates text and SMS messages between residents and 311 customer service agents across ten designated citywide languages. When a resident writes in their preferred language, the system converts their message to English for the agent, then converts the agent's English reply back to the resident's language. No identifying information is collected or disclosed. The translation model is a proprietary Microsoft system, part of the Dynamics CRM platform used by the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

About behaviour
Anonymized data
  • Text and SMS inquiries submitted by residents to 311, written in the resident's chosen language from among the 10 designated citywide languages. No identifying information is collected alongside these messages.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Processing

Language Models
  • Microsoft's proprietary language translation model, delivered as part of the Dynamics CRM Omnichannel platform. The training data is proprietary to Microsoft. The model performs machine translation between English and each of the 10 designated citywide languages.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

What it does

Understanding (Semantic AI)
Human decides
  • The system interprets text in the resident's chosen language and surfaces the meaning to the 311 agent in English; the agent then reads, decides on a response, and writes in English. The tool then converts that reply back. The AI is informative — a human agent decides on every response.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Outputs

Generated content
Anonymized data
  • Translated responses to customer inquiries, delivered to the resident in their chosen language. The content of the original English agent response is preserved in meaning; the translation is the generated output. No identifying information is included in the output.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Run by

Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI)
  • The NYC Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI), through the 311 department, deploys and operates this multilingual translation tool to support resident-facing customer service interactions via text and SMS channels.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Built by

Microsoft
  • Microsoft supplies the Omnichannel translation capability as part of its Dynamics CRM platform, available to OTI under a procurement/paid pilot arrangement. Microsoft supported the design, development, and testing of the tool, and holds the proprietary training data underlying the translation model.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Kept for

No data retained
  • The register states that no identifying information is collected or disclosed. No data retention policy for translated content is specified in the source material.
  • Duration: Not applicable — no identifying information is collected

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Shared with

Not available to me
  • No identifying information is collected or disclosed by this tool. Individuals do not have data stored about them that would be accessible to request or review.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Stored

Not stated by the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseResidents using the 311 text and SMS channel should be aware that their messages are processed by an automated translation tool (Microsoft Omnichannel). This disclosure is provided through the NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report, publicly available at data.cityofnewyork.us.

Risks and safeguards

  • Societal & cultural harmMachine translation errors may cause miscommunication between residents and 311 agents, potentially leading to incorrect service responses or exclusion of residents with non-standard language use.Safeguard: Human agents review and author all substantive responses in English; the AI is informative only. Coverage is limited to 10 designated citywide languages, which may exclude speakers of other languages from equivalent service quality.