In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), foreign language learning can seem like it’s becoming obsolete. Why invest the time and effort to learn another language when technology can do it for you?
There are now translation tools to understand song lyrics, translate websites and to enable automated captions when watching foreign videos and movies. Our phones can instantly translate spoken words.
At the same time, foreign language programs are closing at New Zealand and Australian universities.
But while technology can translate messages, it misses an important component of human communication—the cultural nuances behind the words.
So, while AI translation might bridge language barriers and promote communication because of its accessibility, it’s important to be clear about the benefits and challenges it presents. Merely relying on technology to translate between languages will ultimately lead to misunderstandings and a less rich human experience.
Source:https://phys.b-cdn.net/tmpl/v6/img/logo-header.png
Full article: https://phys.org/news/2024-10-ai-tools-powerful-language.html
Share an article »
ProZ.com blog »
Vereinigtes Königreich
Local time: 11:18
Serbisch > Englisch
+ ...
Why bother learning to walk if there's a "smart car" to drive you around all the time?
Argentinien
Local time: 08:18
Englisch > Spanisch
+ ...
It seems laziness has discovered a perfect companion in AI. Now, people who tend to be lazy can opt out of almost any activity they want, since Artificial Intelligence will do it for them. LOL.
Vereinigtes Königreich
Local time: 11:18
Mitglied (2011)
Französisch > Englisch
+ ...
a) I prefer to be a human being
b) I do not have an AI translation tool fitted to my brain, nor do I ever want to
More Agreers
Belgien
Local time: 12:18
Mitglied (2020)
Französisch > Niederländisch
+ ...
If the majority of people would start to think like that, that would be excellent news to language service professionals. They would ultimately receive more work than ever.
Local time: 12:18
Italienisch > Englisch
+ ...
... I'm not an AI translation tool.
Vereinigtes Königreich
Local time: 11:18
Serbisch > Englisch
+ ...
If the majority of people would start to think like that, that would be excellent news to language service professionals. They would ultimately receive more work than ever.
Not exactly. More likely to be the other way round.
Those people who really believe that "AI translation tools are so powerful" would ignore humans and rely on bots only. The only to profit would be few huge AI companies.
El Salvador
Local time: 05:18
Mitglied (2007)
Englisch > Spanisch
+ ...
Why bother learning to walk if there's a "smart car" to drive you around all the time?
Elon Musk Admits That Teslas With "Self-Driving" Computers May Never Be Able to Actually Self-Drive
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has finally said the quiet part out loud: he's worried that the vast majority of Tesla vehicles currently on the road won't be able to actually drive themselves after all, even if buyers paid extra for hardware that he claimed at the time would allow them to do just that.
https://futurism.com/elon-musk-realizes-all-teslas-self-driving-computers
Vereinigtes Königreich
Local time: 11:18
Englisch > Lettisch
+ ...
The same applied to automated translations. In some circumstances they work great. After all, the quality of the translation of a birth certificate doesn't matter. It is just a name and date of birth and the place. As long as you can transcribe them, you could use google translate for the same effect. But many texts are super important and misinterpretation of them could cost millions. ▲ Collapse
Belgien
Local time: 12:18
Mitglied (2020)
Französisch > Niederländisch
+ ...
Those people who really believe that "AI translation tools are so powerful" would ignore humans and rely on bots only.
Yes, they will do that until they have to deal with the bad consequences of mistranslations.
Dänemark
Local time: 12:18
Mitglied (2003)
Dänisch > Englisch
+ ...
Artificial flowers are just fine. They don´t wither and die, and they don´t need watering.
Why learn to play a musical instrument? All that effort with practising, and it sounds terrible for weeks, until you get the hang of it.
Why play sports or learn to paint, or any other art? For most of us they are never any practical use, just ways of passing the time. And they are often expensive!
Learning a language has a value in its ow... See more
Artificial flowers are just fine. They don´t wither and die, and they don´t need watering.
Why learn to play a musical instrument? All that effort with practising, and it sounds terrible for weeks, until you get the hang of it.
Why play sports or learn to paint, or any other art? For most of us they are never any practical use, just ways of passing the time. And they are often expensive!
Learning a language has a value in its own right. It opens up a whole new perspective on the world, and it is said that you do not really understand your own language until you learn another. Surely most of us on this site know the delight of finding new words, new expressions, discovering idioms and culture in all our languages? Of course it is hard work, but that special satisfaction is addictive!
Why learn about other people and other cultures at all - can´t the bots just take over?
I have just followed a workshop online about AI and translation. When someone has to take responsibility for a translation, humans are indispensable. AI cannot be relied on - it never says ´I don´t know´!
It cannot distinguish between truth and error. It follows patterns and finds a likely scenario, but it cannot distinguish between likelihood and certainty. It will always find a solution - but cannot guarantee that it will be the right solution in a specific context.
It is NOT creative. It is not spontaneous - if you want to have a fluent conversation, make jokes, help people, negotiate serious business or whatever, you can´t wait for AI to interpret all the time. You never get eye-to-eye understanding, claps or smiles from AI.
It may be great as a tool, but it cannot replace humans. So I am still battling with a new language - so I can talk to my grandchild myself, without a bot between us! ▲ Collapse
More Agreers
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 05:18
Englisch > Russisch
+ ...
With my total of 8 rescues over 25+ years I tried to experiment with a few "self-cleaning" litterboxes, fancy and quite expensive. Oh well, the only real self-cleaning things I ended up with were those same cats
Polen
Local time: 12:18
Englisch > Polnisch
+ ...
I'm starting a game on a chess platform, for some strange (or not so strange) reason I choose to play against a human, not the computer.
Portugal
Local time: 11:18
Mitglied (2015)
Englisch > Portugiesisch
+ ...
Because bots don't have feelings, can't create connections and empathy; it can't fully capture cultural contexts and nuances; it's not precise when dealing with specialised language, such as legal or technical terms, and lastly because direct human communication is essential and it always be, at least for me.
[Edited at 2024-10-28 16:03 GMT]
Bosnien und Herzegowina
Local time: 12:18
Mitglied (2009)
Englisch > Kroatisch
+ ...
So, now we shouldn’t even teach kids how to speak either, as they have computers?
Psychiatrists say there is epidemics of autism-like behavior (not autism, but autism-like) due to too much screen time, no speaking and the absence of natural stimulation in a natural environment.
Yeah, what’s the point.
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 05:18
Englisch > Russisch
+ ...
So, now we shouldn’t even teach kids how to speak either, as they have computers?
4th graders in the US are given tablets and parents are notified that kids will no longer be required to do any handwriting...
To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:
You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »
This discussion can also be accessed via the ProZ.com forum pages.