Native Basque chatbot for companies and institutions

If you are looking for research on Basque language models, the reference points are the Basque technology centres and universities. Our focus is application: chatbots that serve customers and residents in Basque with each organisation's own information, just as well as in Spanish.

Why a chatbot that translates does not work in Basque

Many chatbots "speak Basque" because they translate on the fly what they have written in Spanish. In a short conversation it may go unnoticed, but anyone who serves the public in Basque every day spots it straight away.

• Register: a translated answer sounds like a calque of Spanish, with long sentences and a word order nobody uses. A town council, a hotel or a shop needs Basque that is both correct and approachable.
• Declension: in Basque, nouns change depending on the sentence. "Beasainen", "Beasainera" and "Beasaingo udaletxea" are not the same. A system that translates word by word gets it wrong precisely with the names of streets, services and towns, which is what people ask about most.
• Official names: services, procedures and programmes have their official name in Basque. If the assistant invents them while translating, the person cannot find them afterwards, either on the website or at the counter.
• Batua and dialects: the assistant answers in Batua, the standard Basque used in administration and education, but it has to understand people who write in their dialect, without the letter h, with abbreviations or mixing in Spanish words, the way people actually write on their phones.

When any of this goes wrong, someone who started in Basque switches to Spanish or abandons the conversation. For a town council it is also a matter of service: serving people equally well in both official languages.

How we do it

• We test in Basque first. Before opening the assistant, we test it with questions like the ones your organisation receives, starting with Basque, because that is where a poorly prepared assistant fails most. Then we repeat the tests in Spanish.
• A bilingual knowledge base. The assistant answers with your organisation's information (website, opening hours, procedures, catalogues, FAQs), prepared in both languages and with the official Basque names. When something changes, that knowledge base is updated without rebuilding the assistant.
• Review by speakers. Basque speakers review the answers before they are published, with help from someone on your team who knows the subject.
• Follow-up. Every month we review what people are asking and which answers should be strengthened.

The full process, from the free 30-minute assessment to going live, is in how we work. We answer questions about languages, channels and timescales in frequently asked questions.

Where it is used

Town councils and institutions

Town councils are where it shows most, because residents ask about procedures, opening hours, services and events in both languages and the answer has to be equally good in each. We do this in the Arrasate-Mondragón Town Council chatbot and in Loinatz, the Beasain Town Council assistant. The full service for public bodies is described in chatbot for town councils.

Hotels

For a hotel in the Basque Country, replying in Basque to someone who writes in Basque is a detail guests remember. The same assistant serves people in Spanish and in the languages of international guests. More in AI for hotels.

Academies and training centres

Courses, timetables, enrolment and questions from students and families, in Basque and Spanish, even when the office is closed. More in AI for academies.

Shops and companies

Shops and companies that already serve customers in Basque at the counter or on the phone can do so on the web and on WhatsApp too, with the same personal touch.

On the web and on WhatsApp

The assistant works on the web, as a chat window, and on WhatsApp. Each project uses the channels it needs: a town council usually starts with its website, and a company that receives many queries on WhatsApp can handle them there. On both channels it answers with the same information and the same Basque. If you also want to answer the phone, we explain how in voice agents in Basque and Spanish.

Frequently asked questions

Does the chatbot translate from Spanish?

No. We design it in Basque from the outset, with its own knowledge base, and test it in Basque and Spanish before going live.

Does it reply in the language it is written to in?

Yes. If someone writes in Basque, it replies in Basque; if they write in Spanish, it replies in Spanish. If the person switches language mid-conversation, the assistant switches with them. On some websites, such as a town council's, the language can also be chosen when opening the chat.

Does it understand people who write in dialect?

We prepare it to understand how people really write: in dialect, with spelling mistakes or mixing in Spanish words. It replies in Batua. Before going live, we test it with questions written that way.

What happens if it does not know the answer?

We configure it to say so and refer the person to a member of staff or the right channel, rather than improvising.

Shall we test it with your questions?

Book a 30-minute meeting and we will show you an assistant answering in Basque, or write to us from the contact page.