AI Is Coming for Language Learning - Are We Ready? 🤖 This Atlantic article shows how AI can now create deepfake videos of people speaking new languages fluently from just one photo. While impressive, it raises concerns as it suggests that enrolments in language courses are plummeting due to convenient AI translation tools. The article argues that AI still struggles with the nuances and cultural context that human translators excel at and suggests that we as educators should be focusing on teaching intercultural competence - the value AI cannot replicate. What are your thoughts? Is AI a threat or opportunity for language education? How can we adapt instruction to stay invaluable in an AI world? Share your views below, and read the full article if this topic intrigues you!
I think that people will continue to learn languages as they did before. There is a big need to communicate fluently in international business. I think most people will use AI to help with certain language related aspects of their work, but this will not replace the need to be a competent communicator.
David Neira
7mo
I think it’s possible that AI will help people do some communicating tasks that we weren’t able to do in the past, but you would still need to know that whatever it is you are transmitting is coherent, we still learn maths regardles of excel or a calculator, so people will still need to learn languages since we can’t rely solely on AI. At least not for now. Great post!
Joanna Szoke
7mo
I think that motivation is going to play a big role here. Those who just want to find a reason not to go to language courses will probably stop going. But those who need more than just a quick fix will probably still take part in language education.
Kirsten Waechter
6mo
As long as we are not going to send those recorded deepfake videos to meetings, I consider myself to be in a job and not threatened by AI. I use a lot of tools for content creation, though, and it is interesting to see how avatars "produce" language on screen.
Lander Hawes
6mo
I think tourist-level language use is going to be taken over by AI. So using an app for holiday travel. But learning English won't for a bunch of reasons.
🎀 Scientific Communication Coach and Instructor at Télécom Paris; Project leader of the IP Paris ELEVATE Center. Course leader for Coursera's "Promote your Scientific Results"; IATEFL Trustee
7moProducing videos in multiple languages has been on my radar for the past several months. But the new AI Pin (or any improved gadget of its kind to be produced from now on) may totally wipe out all need for learning to *speak* a foreign language. I bet that language learning will turn into a commodity or self-help industry (e.g. like yoga) to help keep that part of our brains active. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1H4SNFtEzys&pp=ygUGYWkgcGlu