Knights send their regards
Where do human and artificial intelligence come together so naturally that we are often no longer even aware of it? On the internet, of course. In an area that has become an integral part of our everyday lives. When my son was of kindergarten age, he was convinced that I had lived through the age of knights. Today, a child asks his grandparents: "How did you find a phone number without the internet? How did you book a trip? How did you find out the news?"
German language, convenient language
Information technology (IT) has fundamentally changed the way we think about communication and knowledge acquisition. Language must also try to keep pace. Many languages are convenient. They make it easy for themselves and adopt a foreign word. The English word Internet, for example, has made itself at home in the German language.
What does Internet mean in Inuit?
The Canadian Inuit have taken a different path. In the Arctic territory of Nunavut, there is a language authority with an unusual mission: in addition to maintaining the traditional Inuit dialects, it ensures that linguistic development keeps pace with technological progress. In other words, it coins its own words for new things. Eileen Kilabuk, the director of the language authority, rose to Internet fame with a linguistic creation. She coined the Inuit word "Ikiaqqijjuti" as an expression for "Internet". Translated into German, the humble Internet becomes philosophical wisdom: "A shaman travels through another dimension of the physical world."
Interface between data and people
We can't offer you more poetry in a blog on the interface between data and people. But we would like to briefly show you how the internet, IT and AI (artificial intelligence) are making our communication easier today - despite all the justified reservations.
Language boundaries
... are no longer an obstacle to human communication. Machine translation and language understanding algorithms make it possible to translate texts into another language in an instant. AI does not capture the linguistic subtleties that a human would recognize when translating, but machine translation is often sufficient for a rough grasp of the meaning of a text.
Voice assistants and chatbots
... use human language as an interface between people and computers. In this way, they also facilitate interaction on the Internet for those who may prefer to speak because their vision is impaired. Voice-controlled search queries place new demands on speech and text recognition.
Word processing
... does much more than the function of a typewriter. Texts on the Internet are analyzed under various aspects with the help of algorithms. This not only helps companies that want to derive the greatest possible benefit. Lieschen Müller and the average consumer also benefit when the right result is spit out when searching the Internet, even if you are looking for a kettle, for example: a bank is something other than a bank.
Human intelligence
Okay, automated translations and content generated by chatbots in a matter of seconds can be helpful. But please treat them with caution and, if in doubt, trust the Siegel Menschliche Intelligenz (seal of human intelligence).
Data protection and privacy
Turning the best cogs
It's easy to say and write, but there is still a lot of human work to be done. The only thing that is certain is that no one can stop the developments that have been set in motion by new language technologies. It is up to all of us to contribute to the responsible use of AI and to recognize and name its limits as well as its possibilities.
