Will Technology Make Learning Languages Obsolete?
How science and technology are redefining one of the most basic forms of human interaction
Language and communication have been essential components of humanity since the beginning of time. It was recently estimated that there are over 7,117 languages throughout the world today, some of which are spoken by millions and some by dozens. Though the exact definition of what constitutes a language can be difficult to identify, at its core, human language “differs from the communicative behavior of every other known organism in a number of fundamental ways, all shared across languages.”
Only human beings possess the ability to generate an infinite number of possibilities from a finite number of parts. Human language is recursive meaning that it can go back and build on itself, interweaving new ideas and topics that are not currently present, building a chain of reasoning and logic that sets human beings apart.
For thousands of years, the study of language has grown and evolved. Since the days of cave paintings, humans have sought opportunities to share, teach, and ultimately translate both verbal and written communication.
Within the last century, globalization and the expansion of technology have impacted every sector and nuance of human life. From the industrial revolution of the 19th century until the technological revolution of the 21st, massive strides have been taken in nearly every core sector of culture, within commerce, transportation, energy, humanities, education, science, and perhaps most importantly, communication.
The birth of the internet and the rise of technology has changed the way we communicate globally. And yet, there may be greater and more impactful changes ahead than any that have come before. We have in our scope, today, ideas that have the ability to transform communication in ways that are as or more significant than the invention of written language or cuneiform almost 6,000 years ago.
Today, the future of language is not primarily in its invention. Language is both global and regional like never before and has become a staple of how our world interacts. Rather, the future of language is now pushing towards its translation. For the…
