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Alternative perspective: Small languages can benefit a lot from machine translation. In a world where most texts can be autotranslated, reading or even listeni

Alternative perspective: Small languages can benefit a lot from machine translation. In a world where most texts can be autotranslated, reading or even listening to e.g. Wikipedia in ones own language will be much easier.

keiferski 3y ago
I have the same vision. In a world of near-instant translation, it seems plausible that local languages become more fragmented and insular – a good thing for the diversity of languages.
bayindirh 3y ago
When you don't have enough corpus in a given "small language," generation of correct grammar, the right word choice and paragraph-wide coherency go out of the window with LLMs. You need "Plain old artificial intelligence" systems, which are designed for these languages, which are more complex, more fixed machines but can generate better output with less "knowledge". Otherwise, LLMs plus small languages without enough corpus become "language in garbage out," and you'll do more damage to these languages.
- raverbashing 3y ago
  or "plain old natural intelligence" of linguists trying to make sense of it all
  - bayindirh 3y ago
    Actually, "plain old artificial intelligence" systems are generally considered "expert" systems, which are in turn designed to "encapsulate and execute" the knowledge of human beings expert on the matter. e.g.: You ask a linguist about nitty gritty details of a language and try to codify as much as possible to a system (e.g. PROLOG), and let the built thing loose on the corpus and see how it works.
fnordpiglet 3y ago
I have a different take. Currently we rely on humans passing the language on from one generation to another. A language model fine tuned with that language will preserve a “living” speaker of the language in its idiomatic form forever. This isn’t the crushing of a language, it’s the preservation that a simple book of grammar and vocabulary can’t possibly do. Instead of gnashing our teeth and tearing our hair, why don’t we enlist technology to help us with our problems? If you’re someone passionate about preserving a language, compile the language samples and bring in speakers to label and help train a model that can perpetuate the language as it’s idiomatically used forever.
chefandy 3y ago
I don't think that's an alternative perspective, just a different (nicer, but related) topic. Recently, Bonaventure Dossou learned of an alarming tendency in a popular AI model. The program described Fon—a language spoken by Dossou’s mother and millions of others in Benin and neighboring countries—as “a fictional language.” This result, which I replicated, is not unusual. Dossou is accustomed to the feeling that his culture is unseen by technology that so easily serves other people. He grew up with no Wikipedia pages in Fon, and no translation programs to help him communicate with his mother in French, in which he is more fluent. “When we have a technology that treats something as simple and fundamental as our name as an error, it robs us of our personhood,” Dossou told me. While increased access is a huge win, it won't stop cultural homogenization. I don't think it's unique to generative AI, but like many other things on the net, it's accelerating it.
Galatians4_16 3y ago
Another alternative perspective: Having a language that can not be machine translated, may be beneficial. [1] 1. https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/navajo-code-talkers-and-the-unbreakable-code/ https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/navajo-code-talkers-and-th...

keiferski 3y ago

I have the same vision. In a world of near-instant translation, it seems plausible that local languages become more fragmented and insular – a good thing for the diversity of languages.

bayindirh 3y ago

When you don't have enough corpus in a given "small language," generation of correct grammar, the right word choice and paragraph-wide coherency go out of the window with LLMs. You need "Plain old artificial intelligence" systems, which are designed for these languages, which are more complex, more fixed machines but can generate better output with less "knowledge". Otherwise, LLMs plus small languages without enough corpus become "language in garbage out," and you'll do more damage to these languages.

raverbashing 3y ago
or "plain old natural intelligence" of linguists trying to make sense of it all
- bayindirh 3y ago
  Actually, "plain old artificial intelligence" systems are generally considered "expert" systems, which are in turn designed to "encapsulate and execute" the knowledge of human beings expert on the matter. e.g.: You ask a linguist about nitty gritty details of a language and try to codify as much as possible to a system (e.g. PROLOG), and let the built thing loose on the corpus and see how it works.

fnordpiglet 3y ago

I have a different take. Currently we rely on humans passing the language on from one generation to another. A language model fine tuned with that language will preserve a “living” speaker of the language in its idiomatic form forever. This isn’t the crushing of a language, it’s the preservation that a simple book of grammar and vocabulary can’t possibly do. Instead of gnashing our teeth and tearing our hair, why don’t we enlist technology to help us with our problems? If you’re someone passionate about preserving a language, compile the language samples and bring in speakers to label and help train a model that can perpetuate the language as it’s idiomatically used forever.

chefandy 3y ago

I don't think that's an alternative perspective, just a different (nicer, but related) topic. Recently, Bonaventure Dossou learned of an alarming tendency in a popular AI model. The program described Fon—a language spoken by Dossou’s mother and millions of others in Benin and neighboring countries—as “a fictional language.” This result, which I replicated, is not unusual. Dossou is accustomed to the feeling that his culture is unseen by technology that so easily serves other people. He grew up with no Wikipedia pages in Fon, and no translation programs to help him communicate with his mother in French, in which he is more fluent. “When we have a technology that treats something as simple and fundamental as our name as an error, it robs us of our personhood,” Dossou told me. While increased access is a huge win, it won't stop cultural homogenization. I don't think it's unique to generative AI, but like many other things on the net, it's accelerating it.

Galatians4_16 3y ago

Another alternative perspective: Having a language that can not be machine translated, may be beneficial. [1] 1. https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/navajo-code-talkers-and-the-unbreakable-code/ https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/navajo-code-talkers-and-th...