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Poll: Will AI increase or decrease demand for language learning in the long term?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jan 12

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Will AI increase or decrease demand for language learning in the long term?".

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Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 17:51
Member (2020)
Faransiis to Dutch
+ ...
Language learning Jan 12

Why do people start to learn languages? Because of economic necessity or because they are interested in doing so? I think mainly the latter, so I don't think AI will change that significantly, even if it would one day become a "perfect" translator. AI is IT, and all things IT can be hacked. That alone would be a reason to keep the human touch in language learning.

Christine Andersen
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Iulia Parvu
Maria Laura Curzi
Philip Lees
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:51
Member (2007)
Ingiriisi to Portuguese
+ ...
No impact Jan 12

My experience is that I was «forced» to learn French, starting at Kindergarten, my parents put me into a French school. Then in the early years of secondary school it was compulsory to learn French and I liked the feeling of knowing more than the others (no modesty there!). This awakened in me a taste for languages that has never left me since...

Iulia Parvu
Maria Laura Curzi
Alexandra Speirs
 
Maria Laura Curzi
Maria Laura Curzi
Argentina
Local time: 13:51
Ingiriisi to Spanish
+ ...
No impact or even increase Jan 12

I guess it depends on what's the native language of people.

I see no impact in the English-speaking countries, since English is the “lingua franca” more used on LLMs for AI development. AI trains in other languages isn't as spread not has as much investment as it's in English, so people who want to know other languages still will need to learn it.

For the same reason, I see an increase for all the non-English languages. So people living in a non-English speaking cou... See more
I guess it depends on what's the native language of people.

I see no impact in the English-speaking countries, since English is the “lingua franca” more used on LLMs for AI development. AI trains in other languages isn't as spread not has as much investment as it's in English, so people who want to know other languages still will need to learn it.

For the same reason, I see an increase for all the non-English languages. So people living in a non-English speaking country that needs to use another non-English language (for work or for leisure), will still need to learn it. Also, I'm thinking about language variants, that right now aren't into consideration on the LLMs feeding AI.
Then, for example, someone from Argentina who wants to learn Japanese, won't find any AI for that Spanish variant nor for that language pair. ▲ Collapse
 
Alexandra Speirs
Alexandra Speirs  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:51
Talyaani to Ingiriisi
+ ...
not always for work Jan 12

Language learning is not always about work. It allows you to appreciate different realities from your own.
In an international family like my own, it was essential for us to understand and speak different languages.
We certainly wouldn't think of using a translation device to interact with family members round the table.
And the grandkids are continuing the tradition, switching from one language to another without any trouble.

Christine Andersen
Alison Jenner
 


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Poll: Will AI increase or decrease demand for language learning in the long term?






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