In addition to the now classic machine translation of web pages and texts on social media, there are already AI applications for smartphones that can recognize texts written in different languages and alphabets, such as street signs or restaurant menus, and perform transliteration and translation. New generations of smart glasses are able to listen to and translate foreign language speech of interlocutors, in both written and spoken dialogue in real time.
Solutions are emerging from deepfake technologies that can faithfully dub a video and translate it into another language, producing amazing multilingual versions of a speech or lecture.
In general, the quality of translations is rapidly increasing, moreover, putting the role of translators and interpreters at risk. It raises the question of what language skills we will need to train for the near future, including using artificial intelligence educational technologies. Moreover, it is urgent to understand what other functions of language expression will be supplanted by AI.
One of the interesting strands is that of specialized microlanguages, the learning of which is crucial in both academic and professional fields. Every field, scientific or occupational, requires mastery in a specialized language, a microlanguage. From biology to art, from construction to aeronautics, the specialist must acquire proficiency in the specific microlanguage, first in his or her native language then in foreign languages. Today it is very difficult to find lecturers who, in addition to mastering a foreign language, also have a command of the technical languages required in specialized fields. Artificial intelligence can develop multimedia glossaries and immersive conversations that are very effective for learning microlanguages.
In the scenario of multilingual AI, countries such as Italy, whose national language is little spoken in the world, will be particularly advantaged: their inhabitants do not excel in language proficiency but will now be able to easily become artificial polyglots, while some internationally dominant languages such as English and Arabic may lose the soft power that comes with their widespread use, as everyone will be able to easily understand foreign languages thanks to artificial translators, also embedded in smartphones, glasses, and earbuds.
Automated translation and localization technologies enable new cross-cultural experiences among people from different continents. New forms of interconnection between peoples and individuals are enabled by overcoming language barriers made possible by AI becoming a sophisticated universal interpreter. Intelligent interculturality occurs both on the spot, in the physical encounter between people speaking different languages who can finally converse using their own language, and in the increasingly popular forms of online encounters.
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