AI reshapes language-related inequalities
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Awate
Artificial intelligence can reduce language barriers that limit the spread of ideas, particularly for people who learn the dominant languages of the professional world later in life. It can also allow less competent people to appear more knowledgeable, Awate notes in his analysis.
Artificial intelligence can reduce the language gaps that have long limited the international circulation of ideas, while creating a new risk: allowing a person to appear more competent than they actually are, according to Awate.
The international dominance of English is notably linked to British colonial expansion, which established the language in administrative, educational and legal institutions in Africa and Asia. In many postcolonial societies, proficiency in it subsequently remained associated with access to public employment, higher education and career progression, Awate explains.
AI is changing this relationship by helping people who acquired English after their mother tongue to express their ideas in broader intellectual and professional spaces. But this ease of expression can also mask differences in knowledge between users, according to Awate.
