From Indian Language Books to Language AI

Why Book Digitization Is an Important Part of Bhashini.ai’s Language Technology Stack?

At Bhashini.ai, we believe that books represent the most refined and enduring form of human knowledge. Unlike everyday spoken communication, which often captures spontaneous thought, written works—especially formal documents and books—are the result of deep reflection, iterative refinement, and sustained intellectual effort.

Even the creation of a short, publishable paper involves weeks of careful drafting, review, and revision beyond the underlying research itself. Writing a book, in contrast, is often the culmination of years of thinking, experience, and feedback, making books the most distilled expression of human understanding and wisdom.

Indian language books, in particular, embody a vast and irreplaceable body of knowledge expressed in our mother tongues, shaped by cultural context, lived experience, and generational learning. Much of this knowledge remains inaccessible in the digital and AI-driven world unless it is carefully preserved, structured, and digitized.

As part of its broader language technology stack, Bhashini.ai undertakes the digitization of Indian language books to preserve this intellectual heritage, make it discoverable and accessible in modern digital formats, and ensure that it can meaningfully participate in the next generation of AI systems—while remaining faithful to the original language, structure, and intent of the authors.

Why EPUB Books? Aren’t Audiobooks Good Enough?

Audiobooks play an important role in improving accessibility, particularly for visually challenged readers. However, in the context of modern AI-driven knowledge systems, audio alone is not sufficient. The rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence—such as Large Language Models and expressive Text-to-Speech—have fundamentally expanded how written content can be accessed, transformed, and experienced.

Technologies today can synthesize high-quality, emotionally expressive speech, generate audiobooks in multiple voices, and even recreate familiar voices using minimal reference audio. These capabilities enable deeply personalized experiences, such as narrating a bedtime story to a child in the mother’s own voice. All of these innovations are built on one essential prerequisite: the availability of the book in a clean, structured electronic text format.

EPUB is the internationally accepted standard for digital publishing and provides a semantically rich, structured representation of text. Beyond direct reading, EPUB serves as a durable foundation for conversion into multiple accessible formats, including DAISY, DOC, and PDF. By prioritizing EPUB creation, Bhashini.ai ensures that content remains future-ready, accessible, and adaptable, supporting both current audiobook use cases and the next generation of AI-powered, speech-first interactions.