Hello everyone! For my blog post this week, I wanted to write about something I thought about after our class last week: how can AI affect how we learn and speak foreign languages? Today, many online resources like Duolingo (one of my favorite apps in middle school for learning Spanish) and Babbel help us learn foreign languages on our devices. While these resources are great, they have many limitations. One drawback is that these platforms don’t provide users with many opportunities to improve their conversation skills in their chosen language. In addition to foreign language teaching, machine translation systems have been around for some time and help us understand the written elements of a foreign language. Machine translation tools like Google Translate can translate blocks of text to the desired language. However, I am sure many of us have used Google Translate in our foreign language classes and understand its inability to provide precise translations. For example, when I experimented with Google Translate in my Spanish courses, the Spanish translation would have a completely different meaning from my English input because some words in Spanish have multiple meanings. In this blog, I will discuss how AI can transform foreign language teaching, improve the accuracy of machine translation tools, and impact our need to learn a foreign language in the future.
AI and Foreign Language Teaching
Many schools are already using AI to score foreign language essays as this technology provides accurate scoring and feedback in seconds. Recently, AI technology has gained the ability to accurately analyze speech in a wide variety of languages and provide elaborate feedback on grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. For example, Emmersion.ai is a language assessment platform that helps companies hire top bilingual communicators. The tool works by generating a sentence or paragraph in a foreign language the user must repeat and providing immediate feedback without the presence of a foreign language teacher. The scoring system works by using phonemes, or sound units that make each word unique, and scoring the user from 0 to 100 on how close their phonemes are to the correct sounds of a given word. This system has the potential to disrupt online foreign language learning because users can receive immediate feedback with an in-depth analysis of their speaking performance. As this AI scoring system becomes more accurate, other online language learning platforms like Duolingo will have to address their lack of features that focus on improving conversation skills in selected languages. I have seen articles and posts on Twitter that mention how AI has the potential to wipe out foreign language classes in school. While I don’t think AI will replace foreign language courses since these classes have important cultural components, I believe this technology could help score assignments with speaking portions. As these AI translation systems continue to improve and more AI-powered translation products are available, it could become unnecessary to learn foreign languages as we can talk with people from anywhere in the world without having a language barrier.
New AI Technology Improves Machine Translation Accuracy
As AI technology advances, it will address many of the shortcomings of the translation tools we have today. This technology provides more accurate translation results as these models are trained on significant amounts of data. In addition, AI is making strides in its ability to provide speech-to-speech translation in real-time. For example, Meta created the first AI speech-to-speech translation system for Hokkien, a language in China that is only spoken and has no writing elements. The video below is a demonstration by Mark Zuckerberg and a Meta researcher showing how this AI system can translate Hokkien to English and vice versa. The company will be looking to add many more languages to its system in the near future. The system’s ability to completely change how we interact with people online from all over the world is why I find the speech-to-speech translation to be the most fascinating part of how AI can impact how we learn and use foreign languages!
Conclusion
In the future, AI technology will continue to improve speech-to-speech translation and allow us to communicate with others in different languages in person. A few weeks ago, the company Timekelle announced its release of an in-ear device that can translate languages in real-time. This innovation opens the door for humans to have the ability to hold face-to-face conversations with people from around the world without language barriers. Imagine being able to travel anywhere in the world and communicate with the locals who speak a different language! As these AI translation systems become faster and more accurate, I think it will be possible to communicate with anyone in person or online without learning their language. I am very excited to see how this technology continues to develop and will be interested in using AI-powered translation devices if they are released in the future!
As AI technology advances, do you think we will still have to learn foreign languages to communicate effectively with others without having a language barrier?
Thank you for reading!
Spencer Myers
I think there’s two different directions that AI and foreign language can go. The first being from an academic perspective. I agree with you that foreign language will probably always be taught because of the cultural aspects. For example, I took Latin in high school, which is considered a dead language. But, in that class, I learned so much about Roman history and culture. I think AI will help improve tools used within the classroom or for non-student to use to help improve their proficiency. The other way AI can help society in regards to foreign language is during the field level need for communication. For example, when traveling, having a more reliable and accurate translation will lead to better conversations between diverse parties. So, to answer your question, I think we will still learn foreign languages because of cultural reasons and curiosity, but I think the tools AI will provided won’t make it as necessary to know when trying to communicate with someone who speaks a different language.
Hey Spencer, great post! I definitely need to explore these speech-to-speech translators before I travel to Europe this summer. It is so true that Google Translate is not very reliable with complex sentences which is difficult and potentially dangerous when you are in a foreign country and need to communicate with a non-English speaking person. It also helps you not look ridiculous when attempting to speak in another language.
I love the topic of your post this week, Spencer! I want to try these speech-to-speech translators out for myself. From my experiences last year, I didn’t even bother using Google Translate for the conversational translation simply because it took too long to get our points across. I plan on heading to Europe again this summer so I will take some time to master the app here and hopefully put it to good use this summer. As for your question, I think that for the sake of business purposes, this technology would make it easier to create value for businesses because it curbs the language barrier. I wish I knew about this technology sooner, I would have definitely used it for some of my client-facing work this past year. Our client was operating out of France and all of our communications were face-to-face or via email. Reading French correspondence among the employees was hard enough and coupling it with Risk Compliance made it a nightmare assignment. I don’t think this will hinder me in trying to learn a language on my own. To Mary’s point, there will always be a part of a person that will explore language as a way to learn more about the culture. I also think that technology like this will promote more travel and exploration because traveler does not feel intimidated going to a different country if they had a speech-to-speech translator in their pockets.
Hey Spencer, this is a great post! I used to be an avid user of google translate and would experience that it would give me incorrect translations for my Spanish class. Since the foundation of artificial intelligence is to learn from its own mistakes, I feel like the results would be much more accurate. After reading this blog post, I can just imagine learning a new language with an AI that talks back to you. These types of inventions may seem distant but when you realize what tech companies are currently working on, it may come sooner than we think. We already have artificial intelligence scoring foreign language essays and I’m excited to see what’s next!
Hi Spencer, great post! This is such an interesting topic, I really have not thought about AI’s implications on learning a new language. As a native Spanish speaker (and someone who has taken some upper-level Spanish classes), I have found that Google Translate reallyyyy does not work once you pass the basics. I remember trying to translate difficult 1800-Spain Spanish plays and Google barely understanding what it’s trying to say.
It’s really cool that schools are starting to use AI for foreign language. I wonder if eventually, AI will be used to grade the AP foreign language exams. I’m sure there will be some barriers, but it would definitely take less time than graders having to hear every single test-taker’s responses. I really hope this continues to grow and advance in availability. Just like you stated, the competitors, like Duolingo, need to step up. If they know what is best for them, they will partner with AI, and not reject it. I guess we will see!
Hey Spencer, I thought your post was really interesting. I didn’t grow up speaking a native language and learned Chinese for 5 years and often had difficulties turning to Google Translate to help. I am by far a terrible conversationalist in Mandarin and most likely couldn’t hold a conversation. I think the addition of AI tools to help avid learners inside and outside the classroom. I think it will help businesses all around the world to break language barriers and make communicating with different countries easier and more comfortable.
Hey Spencer, great post! I think this is an awesome topic that is something that’ll be useful in the area of academia, as well as in a cultural environment. It’s important for updated tech in this space and as you said, Google translate isn’t always very good and can cause some issues. I can also see this being pretty helpful to content creators as well, you can obviously see this with content creators like Mr.Beast who have been able to reach an entirely new part of the world where before there was a language barrier.
Hi Spencer, great post. It is fascinating to hear how AI is changing literally everything, even speech and language translation. I liked how you pointed out that AI might be able to replace some of the direct language aspect, but will not be able to go in depth behind the cultural components that lie below the surface. The real-time translations though would be incredible outside of business context but rather to communicate with someone in a way you never could have before.
Hi Spencer, wonderful post. I am fascinated to hear how AI is being used to translate languages. I think it’s pretty cool that companies are coming up with AI to combat the language barrier and think it will be impactful on a global scale. I want to learn some more languages, so I am able to communicate with people all over the world.
Hi Spencer! Using AI to improve communication is one of my favorite uses of AI that I have seen so far this semester. Language barriers have always been a problem for travelers, and if I had an earpiece that could translate in real time what people are saying, traveling would be made much easier. This would revolutionize communication, but only if both people in the conversation possess the technology.
Hey Spencer! This is a great example of how technology can bring us closer together and more integrated on a global scale. I can’t imagine how amazing it would be to speak to someone in a country whose language I cannot comprehend. I can also see how this would help people to learn languages faster and more efficiently. I was always told growing up that practice makes perfect, so what better way to perfect your fluency in a language than speaking with AI?
Hey Spencer, AI in foreign language would’ve been a game changer for me back in high school while taking french. I feel like it would’ve allowed me to understand the content at a more rapid pace than I initially learned it. I’m curious to know what other ideas can be improved when combining AI with foreign language.