Why is language collection still important in the age of AI?

Short Answer #

Artificial intelligence depends on language data. Without recordings, transcripts, stories, dictionaries, and educational resources, AI has very little to learn from.

Expanded Answer #

There is growing excitement around artificial intelligence. However, AI cannot create language knowledge from nothing. It learns from examples. Those examples come from:

• Speakers
• Recordings
• Stories
• Dictionaries
• Educational resources

Every language technology ultimately depends on language collection. Communities sometimes ask whether AI will reduce the need for language collection. The opposite is true. AI increases the value of language collection. The more organized language resources become, the more opportunities emerge for:

• Speech recognition
• Pronunciation tools
• Intelligent search
• Translation assistance
• Educational content generation

The future of Indigenous language technology will depend heavily on the language resources communities preserve today. This makes language collection more important than ever.