Why AI Will Make Language Learning More Useful, Not Less

Words are only a small part of what a language is.

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More and more potential language learners end up not learning a language because “it will become useless with AI.”

My usual answer to this kind of remark used to be in the lines of “maybe but conversations won’t flow as well because there’ll always be a delay.”

With the speed of this AI revolution, I’m not so sure anymore about that part. I reckon we’ll all carry some okay instant translation within the next year or two.

And yet, I still stand by my position that AI will not make language learning useless. Ever.

Culture matters more than words

Understanding people who don’t speak the same language is a struggle no matter where you’re from. When Google Translate and other such tools came out, people thought that was the end of that. It wasn’t.

During my last week in Korea, I stayed in a guesthouse where I met a Russian guy who had never traveled abroad and spoke no English. Even simplifying my sentences to the maximum, he was still lost. As a result, we used Google Translate to understand each other. It was convenient but it was slow. Tedious even.

That’s why when I hear of new technology like the new Samsung S24 being capable of translating calls live thanks to AI, I can't help but see the potential of communication right there.

But while this may be useful for simple encounters and conversations, language is more than words. It’s all the unsaid, the implied shared knowledge, that makes a conversation move forward.

It’s because we understand why people say what they say that we truly understand what they say. What they mean.

As a speaker of Japanese who used to be in the middle of conversations between French and Japanese potential partners, I’ve seen this all too much. In Japan, and especially in business, you don’t say “no” directly. You say “It might be a bit difficult,” (ちょっと難しいかもしれないです) or even just “That’s…” (それは。。。).

But that’s not all. There are non-verbal signs shown through the body’s language such as facial expressions, the person’s tone, and even context.

Hell, Japanese people say “yes” (はい) just to confirm they’ve heard you. This is often misunderstood by foreigners as confirmation even though it’s not.

AI, while potentially able to understand the context, cannot transcribe properly all non-verbal signs. And even if it could, you would have to be able to recognize those, which is impossible unless you’ve studied the language and/or culture.¹

AI development will help people travel more easily. It won’t help make more meaningful connections.

And language learners prefer the latter.

Bliss can’t be translated

I can’t deny how happy I am AI is growing and being used more each day. It’s also one of my main tools to study languages now. I’ll gladly use AI to converse with people who don’t speak any of my languages. It’s better than nothing.

I also know AI cannot replace the feeling of bliss I get when I see my interlocutor understand me.

No matter how long I’ve been speaking the language, seeing my interlocutor truly understand me brings warm feelings.

Anybody who’s lived that experience can attest there’s no feeling like it. It’s proof our hard work in that language paid off. It’s proof our efforts were worth it. It’s validation.

And it’s hella addictive.

The result?

So what does this mean? AI will help more people understand more people. On a surface level.

In the end, just like there’s a difference between someone using ChatGPT to write an essay and someone who knows how to get to help improve an essay, the people who will get the best of the translation aspect of AI tools will be language learners.

Because they’ll know what to ask for. What to look for. What they could have missed. They’ll use AI as support.

Not as an all-encompassing tool.

Speakers of “foreign” languages will be the key to companies growing abroad because they’ll be perceived differently by their partners and clients. They’ll have that little je-ne-sais-quoi AI won’t bring to the table.

So, yeah, I guess what I’m saying is this: study languages or not. Do as you wish. But if the reason for not learning is because “AI will make it useless,” you gotta rethink that mindset.

Cheers for reading,
Mathias

1. While you can learn about another culture without learning the language, the other way around is not possible. Learning a language means learning the culture too.