“Translation Tools Help”: SA Woman Finds Long-Lost Brother in Taiwan With Help of AI
- Two siblings who grew up on opposite sides of the world after their parents separated have reunited with the help of AI
- One sent letters from Gqeberha, South Africa but the other could not read English and never wrote back for thirty decades
- AI translation tools helped them find each other within just hours of reaching out and is still contributing to their relationship today
Source: Facebook
A South African woman, has been piecing together a family she never grew up knowing, and modern AI translation tools are making the reunion possible.
The story, reported by News24 on 10 July 2026, centres on Cindy Prinsloo, 46, from Gqeberha, and Jay Lin, 42, who were separated as children after their parents went their separate ways. Lin grew up in Taiwan, while Prinsloo remained in South Africa, and the two siblings were raised on entirely different continents, in different languages, with no way to truly reach each other.
As a teenager in the early 1990s, Prinsloo wrote letters to Lin from Gqeberha, hoping to build a connection across the distance. But Lin could not read English at the time and had no way of understanding what she had written. He never replied.
What he did do was keep everything she sent him. Her letters and photographs stayed with him for over 30 years.
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In June 2026, Lin using AI translation tools, was able to make sense of the old material and identified a Port Elizabeth Facebook group where he could post the decades-old photographs.
Within hours, someone recognised the images. Prinsloo and Lin were connected, and a sibling relationship that had existed only on paper for most of their lives suddenly became real.
Source: Getty Images
AI still helps them communicate
The two have not yet managed a video call because of the language barrier between them, but AI-powered translation tools have kept the communication alive and growing. Lin said
"My English is still not much better than it was 30 years ago. Fortunately, modern translation tools help us communicate.
Briefly News previously covered the emotional sibling search, which has started trending again for the unusual yet heartwarming way it unfolded.
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Read the full News 24 article here.
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Source: Briefly News
