The Current State of the OBI DICT Project: A Bilingual e-Dictionary of Oracle-Bone Inscriptions with AI Image Recognition

Abstract

This article reports on the current state of the OBI DICT project, a bilingual e-dictionary of oracle-bone inscriptions (OBI), incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) image recognition technology. It first provides a brief overview of the development of the lexicographical works on oracle bones. Subsequently, it identifies deficiencies in existing oracle-bone dictionaries and underscores the pressing demand for the compilation of a new dictionary. In the subsequent two sections, the article delineates the project's initiation and objectives and then outlines its design. The four principal phases of the project, that is, material collection, literature review, content and user interface design, and search engine and AI image recognition design, are described in detail in the third section. In the concluding section, it expounds on how the OBI DICT addresses users' search requirements and maximizes usability, thereby offering substantial support to contemporary oracle-bone research, streamlining the learning process for novices, and expanding the readership interested in oracle bones. Keywords: oracle-bone inscriptions, oracle-bone lexicographical works, oracle-bone databases, bilingual dictionary, AI image recognition, machine learning, dictionary compilation