The Robots Are Coming

Much has been written recently about AI and its potential to profoundly alter the course of human history. Such warnings tend to evoke a certain science fiction film in which humanity fights for survival in a future world dominated by machines. But if I can divert your attention away from the Terminator franchise for a few moments, I'd like to present you with some research on artificial intelligence in the world of ELT.

In a recent survey conducted by the British Council, teachers were asked if they agreed with the statement “AI and automated translation will eventually make learning languages unnecessary.” Reassuringly, a significant majority disagreed. Teachers' jobs seem safe for now, although some private schools in Europe may have seen a drop in the number of students of late, probably due to the economic climate. The way I see it, AI offers more opportunities to improve speaking and writing, in addition to what a flesh-and-blood teacher does. Furthermore, teachers can use it to create lesson plans and materials, saving precious time. Almost a quarter of teachers surveyed said that they didn't use any AI tools, however.

“Kids are using it to write their homework,” is one complaint that often crops up. The fact that someone can spot an AI-generated piece of writing is great, but not so good for the student who consequently fails the assignment. There are tools available which can scan a text in order to verify whether it was written by AI; the jury is still out as to just how effective they are, and as time goes on and the technology advances, I wonder if there will come a point when it will be impossible to distinguish between a person's writing and that of a machine. Indeed, we might have already reached that stage. I use Google to translate texts and I'm blown away by the results. I don't entirely trust its translations, though, which is where human knowledge steps in – somebody has to check everything to make sure.

Years from now, people might be using instant translation when they speak, which is fine, but does that mean they will not want to learn another language? The answer is no. We like having electricity to light our homes, but nothing beats the glow from a candle, especially when there's a power cut! In the same way, students of the future might have robots teaching them grammar, but some of them will prefer a real person guiding the way. After all, humans are natural users of language, unlike machines.