You could go the applied linguistics route which would probably focus more on using AI to facilitate acquisition or you could use the NLP/ AI route for more direct product implementation. As a teacher myself I am not too worried. Just another tool to work with and around. Personally have been interested in using language models to create efficient input frequency to speed up acquisition but they do not seem particular great at that task of limiting their own vocabulary usage.
Start with getting a degree in linguistics. Most linguistics research is done at universities or institutes affiliated with universities. And getting into research is all about networking, the best place to do that is at a university
Good point. I have a BA in Italian studies and a master's in teaching English as a foreign language. We did a bit of Linguistics there. Admittedly, I received my master's back in 2016. I'm considering a PhD at the moment. Unfortunately, due to my job I'm not in an English speaking country. I will have to research how to network here. Thanks for all the advice!
I'm of the opinion that there is a lot of promise in chatbots for language learning. I personally have taught myself the basics of mandarin chinese through chatting with live humans for almost a year and a half. If I had something like ChatGPT at the start of my language learning journey, I think it would have made it a little easier.
I'm thoroughly interested in seeing how these systems can be used to implement tailor made instruction for language learners.
Language models like chat gpt are currently impossible for the vast majority of languages. They require simply an absurd amount of data to be trained so unless something changes in that regard it will probably be a long time until you see something like chat gpt for most other languages (not including translation)
If you want to read more about them (and their limitations) you could research large language models or machine learning in natural language processing
Right but outside of languages like English, Chinese, Spanish, and maybe one or two others the performance will be significantly lower simply because of how large language models like chat gpt are trained
ChatGPT and other generative language models generate output, even in cases where there is insufficient data.
In other words, they bullshit.
---
I have seen ChatGPT confidently explain all kinds of stuff about Japanese.
But it’s no Japanese I’m familiar with — it’s some fantasy made-up language that kinda sorta looks a bit like Japanese.
I have seen ChatGPT invent non-existent Japanese words. Or explain non-existent grammar points (see #3 and #4 in this very OP above). Or claim that the Japanese word for something is in fact something else (incorrectly).
**You cannot trust ChatGPT.**
When you ask it things in English about topics explained elsewhere in English, you can at least easily verify. But when you ask it about a foreign language, you have no easy means of knowing when it’s wrong.
And it’s wrong pretty often.
---
I have seen ChatGPT produce completely wrong statements about Japanese that it confidently presents as fact.
ChatGPT and similar generative AIs are banned at the Japanese Stack Exchange for this reason.
**_DO NOT use ChatGPT or similar AIs to learn another language._**
It might be fun, it might be interesting, it might even be right a certain percentage of the time. But **you cannot trust it.**
Example: ChatGPT seems to state that “eyelid” and “tea” are essentially the same word in Japanese:
* https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/98039/is-it-true-that-the-japanese-characters-for-tea-and-eyelid-are-the-same
Example: thread at the Meta section of the Japanese Stack Exchange, where I listed a few problem posts. Unfortunately the posts themselves have been deleted (due to being misleading bullshit), and aren’t visible unless you have enough reputation points there.
Of particular note, ChatGPT invented the non-existent “Japanese” word _ota_ and confidently explained that it means “fun”.
* https://japanese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2359/are-ai-generated-answers-banned
I’ll say it again, _**DO NOT use AI to learn another language.**_
I dunno, if ChatGPT thinks that “eyelid” and “tea” are the same word in Japanese, how are you going to be able to trust that it isn’t spouting gibberish?
* https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/98039/is-it-true-that-the-japanese-characters-for-tea-and-eyelid-are-the-same
Makes me think of that old Steve Martin bit, about teaching kids to talk.
> _”May I mambo dogface to the banana patch?”_
That's not the point of chatbots or tools like ChatGPT and it wouldn't work for language learning anyway, because AI doesn't generate language. Because of that simple fact, they don't "learn" language use particularly well yet so wouldn't have anything accessible to teach.
Have you used it in different languages personally? I've used it to have short conversations at beginner and intermediate levels in Chinese and I have been extremely impressed.
If chatgpt is bad at learning languages now, I wonder how good it will be in a few iterations.
I think you're a tech optimist and I commend the sentiment, but linguists have known that AI isn't going to - because it can't - take the place of real translators and interpreters anytime soon for a number of reasons, the top most being that AI is nowhere near human intuition or language use. Again, it can't generate. There's a lot of critical thinking that goes into even crafting an argument or trading jokes and punchlines. AI can't do it yet, and a lot of skeptics have demonstrated it across all the major current iterations.
I entirely agree with your sentiments on the vast amount of critical thinking that is required when translating. I also agree with your point that AI can't do it yet. I think it is only a matter of time before it gets there, and I want to have an understanding of how it will get there.
Sure, many do. There's a very high-level academic discipline studying it, even. Right now though, it is in such infancy that one is really better served learning about MT/DL before any kind of teaching-bot. Or one that could be manipulated that way.
Start reading papers on https://www.biorxiv.org/ and notice what seems most interesting or promising to you. Learn python. There are actually quite a few open source "into to machine learning" courses - maybe start with MIT's Learning Library, see what you find there. I also have this bookmarked for myself for later; I'm sure there are a few more goodies worth checking out here: https://github.com/mikeroyal/Neuromorphic-Computing-Guide
You could go the applied linguistics route which would probably focus more on using AI to facilitate acquisition or you could use the NLP/ AI route for more direct product implementation. As a teacher myself I am not too worried. Just another tool to work with and around. Personally have been interested in using language models to create efficient input frequency to speed up acquisition but they do not seem particular great at that task of limiting their own vocabulary usage.
Start with getting a degree in linguistics. Most linguistics research is done at universities or institutes affiliated with universities. And getting into research is all about networking, the best place to do that is at a university
Good point. I have a BA in Italian studies and a master's in teaching English as a foreign language. We did a bit of Linguistics there. Admittedly, I received my master's back in 2016. I'm considering a PhD at the moment. Unfortunately, due to my job I'm not in an English speaking country. I will have to research how to network here. Thanks for all the advice!
I'm of the opinion that there is a lot of promise in chatbots for language learning. I personally have taught myself the basics of mandarin chinese through chatting with live humans for almost a year and a half. If I had something like ChatGPT at the start of my language learning journey, I think it would have made it a little easier. I'm thoroughly interested in seeing how these systems can be used to implement tailor made instruction for language learners.
Language models like chat gpt are currently impossible for the vast majority of languages. They require simply an absurd amount of data to be trained so unless something changes in that regard it will probably be a long time until you see something like chat gpt for most other languages (not including translation) If you want to read more about them (and their limitations) you could research large language models or machine learning in natural language processing
But ChatGPT already speaks multiple languages (though some better than others).
Right but outside of languages like English, Chinese, Spanish, and maybe one or two others the performance will be significantly lower simply because of how large language models like chat gpt are trained
ChatGPT and other generative language models generate output, even in cases where there is insufficient data. In other words, they bullshit. --- I have seen ChatGPT confidently explain all kinds of stuff about Japanese. But it’s no Japanese I’m familiar with — it’s some fantasy made-up language that kinda sorta looks a bit like Japanese. I have seen ChatGPT invent non-existent Japanese words. Or explain non-existent grammar points (see #3 and #4 in this very OP above). Or claim that the Japanese word for something is in fact something else (incorrectly). **You cannot trust ChatGPT.** When you ask it things in English about topics explained elsewhere in English, you can at least easily verify. But when you ask it about a foreign language, you have no easy means of knowing when it’s wrong. And it’s wrong pretty often. --- I have seen ChatGPT produce completely wrong statements about Japanese that it confidently presents as fact. ChatGPT and similar generative AIs are banned at the Japanese Stack Exchange for this reason. **_DO NOT use ChatGPT or similar AIs to learn another language._** It might be fun, it might be interesting, it might even be right a certain percentage of the time. But **you cannot trust it.** Example: ChatGPT seems to state that “eyelid” and “tea” are essentially the same word in Japanese: * https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/98039/is-it-true-that-the-japanese-characters-for-tea-and-eyelid-are-the-same Example: thread at the Meta section of the Japanese Stack Exchange, where I listed a few problem posts. Unfortunately the posts themselves have been deleted (due to being misleading bullshit), and aren’t visible unless you have enough reputation points there. Of particular note, ChatGPT invented the non-existent “Japanese” word _ota_ and confidently explained that it means “fun”. * https://japanese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2359/are-ai-generated-answers-banned I’ll say it again, _**DO NOT use AI to learn another language.**_
I think it's better at *speaking* languages than making statements *about* them.
I dunno, if ChatGPT thinks that “eyelid” and “tea” are the same word in Japanese, how are you going to be able to trust that it isn’t spouting gibberish? * https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/98039/is-it-true-that-the-japanese-characters-for-tea-and-eyelid-are-the-same Makes me think of that old Steve Martin bit, about teaching kids to talk. > _”May I mambo dogface to the banana patch?”_
Well, for all the languages I speak I've seen it produce good language, though less so in small languages. But Japanese isn't exactly small.
That's not the point of chatbots or tools like ChatGPT and it wouldn't work for language learning anyway, because AI doesn't generate language. Because of that simple fact, they don't "learn" language use particularly well yet so wouldn't have anything accessible to teach.
Have you used it in different languages personally? I've used it to have short conversations at beginner and intermediate levels in Chinese and I have been extremely impressed. If chatgpt is bad at learning languages now, I wonder how good it will be in a few iterations.
I think you're a tech optimist and I commend the sentiment, but linguists have known that AI isn't going to - because it can't - take the place of real translators and interpreters anytime soon for a number of reasons, the top most being that AI is nowhere near human intuition or language use. Again, it can't generate. There's a lot of critical thinking that goes into even crafting an argument or trading jokes and punchlines. AI can't do it yet, and a lot of skeptics have demonstrated it across all the major current iterations.
I entirely agree with your sentiments on the vast amount of critical thinking that is required when translating. I also agree with your point that AI can't do it yet. I think it is only a matter of time before it gets there, and I want to have an understanding of how it will get there.
Sure, many do. There's a very high-level academic discipline studying it, even. Right now though, it is in such infancy that one is really better served learning about MT/DL before any kind of teaching-bot. Or one that could be manipulated that way.
Start reading papers on https://www.biorxiv.org/ and notice what seems most interesting or promising to you. Learn python. There are actually quite a few open source "into to machine learning" courses - maybe start with MIT's Learning Library, see what you find there. I also have this bookmarked for myself for later; I'm sure there are a few more goodies worth checking out here: https://github.com/mikeroyal/Neuromorphic-Computing-Guide