"As we move toward a hybrid future, the intimate relationship between natural intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming essential to our identity. We've entered an era of hybrid intelligence, where the line between our words and the algorithms that suggest them blurs. The loss of linguistic diversity may be the first warning sign of deeper issues ahead. We readily embrace the promise of effortless efficiency."
"Language is more than a communication tool; it's the scaffolding of thought. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that language structure shapes worldview. If true, then AI tools, predominantly trained on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) data, aren't just helping us write. They're colonizing our cognitive processes. Research on AI-induced linguistic standardization reveals a paradox. AI can help people learn languages, expand vocabularies, and even revitalize endangered tongues through low-cost translation tools."
"Yet mainstream systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot gravitate toward polished, middle-of-the-road global English, diluting the rich diversity of dialects and verbal expressions. In work and life environments where AI is increasingly pervasive, our brains consume linguistic fast food-sweet and easy to swallow, but lacking the complex nutrients of local dialect, spicy slang, and idiosyncratic quirks. As the same probabilistic text generators spread across cultures and countries, we risk linguistic flattening."
Hybrid intelligence blurs the distinction between human language and algorithmic suggestions, integrating AI into identity. AI tools trained predominantly on WEIRD data influence not only writing but cognitive processes by shaping available linguistic forms. AI can enable language learning, vocabulary expansion, and cost-effective revitalization of endangered tongues through translation tools. Mainstream systems tend toward polished, middle-of-the-road global English, reducing dialectal richness and idiosyncratic expression. Pervasive AI use encourages a simplified, ultra-processed linguistic diet that lacks local nuance and cultural specificity. The spread of probabilistic text generators risks linguistic flattening and the export of Western mindsets beyond language.
Read at Psychology Today
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