About AI and Language

The relationship between human language (in all its modalities: spoken, written, or signed) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a crucial and dynamic topic due to the impressive results current AI technologies have achieved.

Theme coordinator Tommaso Caselli: 'Human language technologies have become pervasive: machine translation is used to mitigate language barriers, chatbots are increasingly deployed to support clients, virtual assistants have become part of our daily activities. We are relying more and more on machines that are designed to mimic human’s communication style. All of this does not come free from potential negative consequences when it comes to perpetration of biases, stereotypes, and the reliability of information that is returned.'

Core issues

The theme develops around three core issues:

• Reinforcing the coordination of the educational programs about/related to AI and language;
• Facilitating the access to these technologies while integrating the perspectives and needs of different disciplines together;
• Promoting awareness of the possibilities and risks of these technologies in real-life situations, using evidence to inform the general public about them.

This theme can advance a 'digital well-being for everyone by reducing communication barriers, innovating education, and supporting the creation of  responsible, equitable, and innovative businesses.