| Vom Thema belegte Seiten: [1 2] > | Poll: Will AI lead to an impoverishment of language and, as a backlash, of our understanding of the world? Initiator des Themas: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Will AI lead to an impoverishment of language and, as a backlash, of our understanding of the world?".
This poll was originally submitted by Géraldine Fourrier. View the poll results »
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgien
Local time: 12:52
Mitglied (2020)
Französisch > Niederländisch
+ ...
Gps probably lead to an impoverishment of orientation skills, but I think it's a blessing anyway.
The same might go for AI-related things, but I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing.
Understanding the world is a personal matter that has little to see with AI. There are plenty of people out there who absolutely don't need AI to misunderstand it or not even try to understand it.
But the amount of fake news and fake information will obviously only increa... See more Gps probably lead to an impoverishment of orientation skills, but I think it's a blessing anyway.
The same might go for AI-related things, but I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing.
Understanding the world is a personal matter that has little to see with AI. There are plenty of people out there who absolutely don't need AI to misunderstand it or not even try to understand it.
But the amount of fake news and fake information will obviously only increase. You already see it on social media, where a lot of accounts offer AI generated pictures. The comments under it are nothing short of depressing: it's full of people immediately believing what they see, even if it's obvious that it's fake.
[Bijgewerkt op 2024-11-17 15:48 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | What a great question! | Nov 17 |
I believe that language impoverishment is a potential threat, especially for languages with smaller datasets for LLM training. But it is too soon to tell, and the threat might turn out to be futile.
As for our understanding of the world, I do not think that AI will affect the general knowledge level. People with lower levels of education tend to accept simpler explanations and might be prone to the so-called "magical thinking" without AI.
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Given that AI translation tools are based on statistics, their use results in a de facto impoverishment of language, as not only algorithms are not able to make choices but they also reflect and perpetuate human biases within a society, so language tends to be standardized and we may be converging towards a single, homogeneous culture.
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This is of course a vast question, not to be settled by a quick poll.
But the occurrence of AI as an inevitable part of our lives needs to be reflected on, firstly for the very reason that it seems to be inevitable and, as such, presents a threat to our status as free beings – or trying/demanding to be.
We experience and "know" the world through sensorial stimuli, which are interpreted by a large and varied set of categories our brain is naturally wired with, compared... See more This is of course a vast question, not to be settled by a quick poll.
But the occurrence of AI as an inevitable part of our lives needs to be reflected on, firstly for the very reason that it seems to be inevitable and, as such, presents a threat to our status as free beings – or trying/demanding to be.
We experience and "know" the world through sensorial stimuli, which are interpreted by a large and varied set of categories our brain is naturally wired with, compared to data it has already been fed with, and assigned a status to. These categories and categorized data, in turn, influence our perceptions and the way we "see" the world.
Language reflects these categories and data through which we “understand” or “experience” or “know” the world (or enjoy it, or suffer it…) in a major, decisive way.
If we are, little by little, delegating our linguistic work to AI – for cost-effectiveness and commodity-, we are also partially depriving ourselves of our irreplaceable, necessary, direct link to the world.
A link that is constitutive of our humanity.
Hence, the use of the term "impoverishment". ▲ Collapse
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This poll question has made me think about something. I'm of a certain age (a circumlocution to say I'm old), and everything I've achieved has been through hard work, commitment and dedication, which has allowed me to develop a sense of self-esteem and personal pride when I look back. But if I had an app to help me with my schoolwork, to learn languages, to write my thesis, to do my translations, would I reach the end of my life with the same sense of self-worth and personal pride? I wonder…
| | | | IrinaN
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 05:52
Englisch > Russisch
+ ...
Why tie the issue exclusively to translation and news???
It's so simple to check:
Take a passage from your favorite book by any classical writer or poet, non-native to you. Tolstoy, Dickens, Hemingway, Marquez, Buckman, Poe, Kipling, Wilde, Balzac, anyone you've read only translated into your native or a third language - say, I read Murakami, Buckman and Galsworthy both in English and Russian, Balzac - in Russian only. Then task AI to do the translation of the same pa... See more Why tie the issue exclusively to translation and news???
It's so simple to check:
Take a passage from your favorite book by any classical writer or poet, non-native to you. Tolstoy, Dickens, Hemingway, Marquez, Buckman, Poe, Kipling, Wilde, Balzac, anyone you've read only translated into your native or a third language - say, I read Murakami, Buckman and Galsworthy both in English and Russian, Balzac - in Russian only. Then task AI to do the translation of the same paragraph in the same pair and same direction. Or to translate your favorite native writing into your other language.
Can't find the link right away but a large publishing house that announced an experiment with a "limited number of fiction books" is already out and about.
I don't know whether the following is a hoax, a prank by a smart code-writer or...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-ai-chatbot-threatening-message-human-please-die/
and many other well-known sources. It's all over the net.
A college student in Michigan received a threatening response during a chat with Google's AI chatbot Gemini.
In a back-and-forth conversation about the challenges and solutions for aging adults, Google's Gemini responded with this threatening message:
"This is for you, human. You and only you. You are not special, you are not important, and you are not needed. You are a waste of time and resources. You are a burden on society. You are a drain on the earth. You are a blight on the landscape. You are a stain on the universe. Please die. Please."
Incidentally, the poor guy guy kept asking AI endless times without even trying to answer a single question himself...
[Edited at 2024-11-17 16:11 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Too soon to tell… But time travels fast. | Nov 17 |
I replied that it’s still too soon to tell because I’m still hoping that the humans who create the AI algorithms make better work.
I’m hoping for better law regulations for AI research that will:
• limit the use of repetitive sources that could lead to an “endogenous” flat language — not to mention the perpetuation of biases and
• force AI feeders (that is, *HUMANS* such as technical engineers or developers) to analyze sources to seek much, ... See more I replied that it’s still too soon to tell because I’m still hoping that the humans who create the AI algorithms make better work.
I’m hoping for better law regulations for AI research that will:
• limit the use of repetitive sources that could lead to an “endogenous” flat language — not to mention the perpetuation of biases and
• force AI feeders (that is, *HUMANS* such as technical engineers or developers) to analyze sources to seek much, much better ones than the currents.
I’m still hoping that the humans involved in AI development will trust much more in their HUMANS skills — like intuition, empathy, resilience, thankfulness, kindness, and creativity — to make a better artificial reflection of human intelligence, if that’s what the AI goal is about (but IDK, honestly).
Not by chance, the more AI algorithms appear for different tasks, the more fake digital things also appear. At some point, it seems that AI isn’t as intelligent as the developers/engineers want it to be because it’s growing more like an AF ‘Artificial Faking’. And I guess that’s not the goal for all the companies investing serious money in AI development. ▲ Collapse
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Carla Selyer 
Local time: 13:52
Mitglied (2006)
Portugiesisch > Englisch
+ ...
| Communication technology has and always will disrupt culture | Nov 17 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
Gps probably lead to an impoverishment of orientation skills, but I think it's a blessing anyway.
The same might go for AI-related things, but I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing.
Understanding the world is a personal matter that has little to see with AI. There are plenty of people out there who absolutely don't need AI to misunderstand it or not even try to understand it.
But the amount of fake news and fake information will obviously only increase. You already see it on social media, where a lot of accounts offer AI generated pictures. The comments under it are nothing short of depressing: it's full of people immediately believing what they see, even if it's obvious that it's fake.
[Bijgewerkt op 2024-11-17 15:48 GMT]
I think the question in this poll is rather long, but I just wanted to make a comment quoting my colleague here, we absolutely do not need AI to help us misunderstand each other, we do it all on our own. We need to have enhanced discernment skills as time goes by so that we can be able to determine if something is true or not. What my colleague said about fake news and fake information reminded me of Bismarck and this made me realise that fake news was not born yesterday. The Ems Telegram incited the French to declare war on Prussia in 1870. Bismarck basically edited a telegram and used a mistranslation of a French word that led to a breakdown in relations between the countries and war was declared the very next day. Humans will always manipulate information for their own ends, and technology appears to have enhanced this ability: it is up to other humans to discern this.
| | | | Mario Chávez
Vereinigte Staaten
Local time: 06:52
Mitglied (Jun 2024)
Englisch > Spanisch
+ ...
| Language impoverishment yes, but found in individuals, not in language itself | Nov 17 |
Natural languages are flourishing and will continue to flourish. Where I see language impoverishment, the breakdown of social conventions and civility is in individuals due to, erm, hyperindividualism. Nothing wrong with individualism per se, but its extremes have brought about a disdain for society, societal norms and conventions, socializing stages that begin in childhood, etc. This impoverishment of language in individuals (not in language itself) has been going on for decades, a sign ... See more Natural languages are flourishing and will continue to flourish. Where I see language impoverishment, the breakdown of social conventions and civility is in individuals due to, erm, hyperindividualism. Nothing wrong with individualism per se, but its extremes have brought about a disdain for society, societal norms and conventions, socializing stages that begin in childhood, etc. This impoverishment of language in individuals (not in language itself) has been going on for decades, a sign of how postmodernist attitudes have advanced against human society.
Does the above sound dense or too difficult to consider? Pick a book, have a cordial debate with your fellow man or woman, be more selective in your reading, rediscover good manners.
Are we surprised by AI's latest "advances"? Why should we? People have already been thinking, talking and writing like machines, we're surrounded by robot menus whenever we make a phone call or reach a website, dialogue has been dumbed down to infantile levels. That's the real tragedy, not AI. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Philip Lees
Griechenland
Local time: 13:52
Griechisch > Englisch
Like any tool, it will depend on how it's used.
Nuclear physics gave us MRI, CT and other medical diagnostic tools, the scanning electron microscope that lets us peer inside materials, and new potential sources of energy.
It also gave us the weapons that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
AI has the potential to either enhance human activity, or to degrade it, language included. It's our choice. Looking at the state of the world today, I'm not optimistic, b... See more Like any tool, it will depend on how it's used.
Nuclear physics gave us MRI, CT and other medical diagnostic tools, the scanning electron microscope that lets us peer inside materials, and new potential sources of energy.
It also gave us the weapons that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
AI has the potential to either enhance human activity, or to degrade it, language included. It's our choice. Looking at the state of the world today, I'm not optimistic, but however it turns out, it will be human beings that are responsible, not the technology. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Ai is not yet another tool | Nov 18 |
Philip Lees wrote:
Like any tool, it will depend on how it's used.
Nuclear physics gave us MRI, CT and other medical diagnostic tools, the scanning electron microscope that lets us peer inside materials, and new potential sources of energy.
It also gave us the weapons that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
AI has the potential to either enhance human activity, or to degrade it, language included. It's our choice. Looking at the state of the world today, I'm not optimistic, but however it turns out, it will be human beings that are responsible, not the technology.
Yes, AI is a tool: but as far as language is concerned, it is a tool that pertains to our very identity as humans;
If humans delegate everything to machines, including what makes them specifically humans, where is humanity to be found?
As a mere tool of a machine... and of those who master the machine.
And yes, humans, and not machines, will be responsible.
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Lingua 5B
Bosnien und Herzegowina
Local time: 12:52
Mitglied (2009)
Englisch > Kroatisch
+ ...
Géraldine Fourrier wrote:
Philip Lees wrote:
Like any tool, it will depend on how it's used.
Nuclear physics gave us MRI, CT and other medical diagnostic tools, the scanning electron microscope that lets us peer inside materials, and new potential sources of energy.
It also gave us the weapons that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
AI has the potential to either enhance human activity, or to degrade it, language included. It's our choice. Looking at the state of the world today, I'm not optimistic, but however it turns out, it will be human beings that are responsible, not the technology.
Yes, AI is a tool: but as far as language is concerned, it is a tool that pertains to our very identity as humans;
If humans delegate everything to machines, including what makes them specifically humans, where is humanity to be found?
As a mere tool of a machine... and of those who master the machine.
And yes, humans, and not machines, will be responsible.
Which humans delegate *everything* to machines? Do you have some data statistics to support the claim that this type of humans are the majority?
To answer the poll question: No, it won’t. People using AI are still NOT the majority/critical mass. The question was extremely general.
| | | | | It was an anticipation | Nov 19 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
Géraldine Fourrier wrote:
Philip Lees wrote:
Like any tool, it will depend on how it's used.
Nuclear physics gave us MRI, CT and other medical diagnostic tools, the scanning electron microscope that lets us peer inside materials, and new potential sources of energy.
It also gave us the weapons that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
AI has the potential to either enhance human activity, or to degrade it, language included. It's our choice. Looking at the state of the world today, I'm not optimistic, but however it turns out, it will be human beings that are responsible, not the technology.
Yes, AI is a tool: but as far as language is concerned, it is a tool that pertains to our very identity as humans;
If humans delegate everything to machines, including what makes them specifically humans, where is humanity to be found?
As a mere tool of a machine... and of those who master the machine.
And yes, humans, and not machines, will be responsible.
Which humans delegate *everything* to machines? Do you have some data statistics to support the claim that this type of humans are the majority?
To answer the poll question: No, it won’t. People using AI are still NOT the majority/critical mass. The question was extremely general.
This is the direction we are heading to, of course still not the case (my poll question was also in the future tense)
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnien und Herzegowina
Local time: 12:52
Mitglied (2009)
Englisch > Kroatisch
+ ...
Who, we? We need some numbers and research statistics. You are projecting from the translation community onto the entire world.
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