AI will change the way languages work

Hi!

I've been going on about the problems with AI pretty aggressively at times. That's no surprise, no one can claim to know how this new form of data interaction will change society, and the way we work. People are already losing their jobs due to AI, while others are adapting. Add to that the fact that most models are trained on stolen data, something that's ending up in court.

It's not all bad, though. One area where what we call AI will be positive is communication. I'm not talking about chatbots, but rather how we understand each other. There are 7,151 languages in the world according to this piece, and I for one can't understand them all. My native language is Swedish, I write and speak English, and understand basic German. While I would like to learn more languages, French comes to mind, I won't achieve the skill I have in neither Swedish nor English. There's not enough time, and I don't live in a country where the language is spoken. It's not reasonable to believe that I'll get proficient beyond the basics. An in-depth conversation with someone in French is out of the question. Indeed, even when I do speak French, at restaurants and the like, the waiter will switch to English. It's just easier for everyone involved.

But what if there was an AI that translated for you, in real-time? That's not far off. It already exists for subtitling, and as computers get smaller and faster, it won't be long before you can have your personal translator in your headphones. Suddenly, that conversation about wine with the French sommelier becomes feasible, assuming both of us has access to this technology. And it can be, thanks to the ubiquitousness of smartphones.

This isn't AI, obviously, but it is technology made possible by the language models attached to AI. You can ask ChatGPT to translate for you, so the step isn't that far off.

Understanding each other makes the world a better place. Here, AI can be hugely beneficial to society. It isn't all bad, as it were.

Linkage

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Until next Sunday, take it easy.

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