Portrait
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Faculty of Philosophy and Letters
Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures
NaLTT Institute
Jean-Marc Dewaele
Professor of Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism at the University of London (Birkbeck and Institute of Education at University College London),
Languages
Artificial Intelligences (AI)
It would be dangerous to believe that AI will simplify language learning. These tools can be useful for improving the quality of a text, but caution is needed. AI works relatively well for factual texts, such as contracts, but when it comes to academic texts requiring argumentation, it quickly shows its limitations. A text generated by AI can be spotted fairly quickly, as the author's voice is absent. Without this voice, there is no personal argumentation. I prefer to read a text in imperfect but authentic English rather than a perfect text produced by a machine. AI can be a good tool, provided you know how to use it intelligently. It's a bit like a dictionary or a speech manual. It can be a good learning aid, but it shouldn't be overused.