Unlike the past, when languages could diverge into new forms within centuries, modern widespread literacy and constant media exposure act as a brake on linguistic change. English in a thousand years may still be largely comprehensible to us, a stark contrast to previous rates of evolution.
While geological and biological evolution are slow, cultural evolution—the transmission and updating of knowledge—is incredibly fast. Humans' success stems from shifting to this faster clock. AI and LLMs are tools that dramatically accelerate this process, acting as a force multiplier for cultural evolution.
Modern communication (texting, social media) filters out crucial non-verbal information like tone, pacing, and emotional presence. This has led society to 'hypertrophy' word-based interaction while losing the high-resolution data that prevents misunderstanding and fosters genuine connection.
With non-native speakers as the majority of English users, the language constantly evolves in diverse ways globally. Efforts to impose a simplified, standard version for business (like "globish") are unlikely to succeed because language is a living system that speakers inherently and creatively adapt, making it impossible to control.
No language is 'perfect' because its evolution is a trade-off. Speakers tend toward efficiency and simplification (slurring), while hearers require clarity and precision. This constant tug-of-war drives linguistic change, explaining why languages are always in flux.
Today's rapid language death is primarily fueled by utilitarian choices, not just oppression. Speakers of smaller languages voluntarily switch to dominant ones like English or Swahili to provide their children with better economic opportunities, viewing the ancestral tongue as a barrier to prosperity.
We often think of "human nature" as fixed, but it's constantly redefined by our tools. Technologies like eyeglasses and literacy fundamentally changed our perception and cognition. AI is not an external force but the next step in this co-evolution, augmenting what it means to be human.
Human communication is returning to its oral and visual roots. Text, a low-dimensional medium, was a temporary necessity for scalable knowledge storage—a 'parenthesis' in history. As AI makes creating rich media as easy as writing, society will default back to more natural, higher-bandwidth formats like audio and video.
While linguistic diversity is celebrated, from a purely utilitarian perspective, a single global language would be the most efficient system for humanity. The existence of 7,000 languages is an accident of historical separation, not a designed feature for optimal communication or flourishing.
Modern audiences struggle with Shakespeare because hundreds of words have subtly changed meaning over 400 years (e.g., 'generous' meant 'noble'). This cumulative semantic drift makes the original text functionally a different language, requiring prior study, not just cultural appreciation, to understand.
A project is using advanced AI to translate content like 'SpongeBob' into Cherokee. This helps preserve a language rapidly losing its native speakers, tackling complex linguistic challenges like the absence of a direct word for "love" to keep the culture alive for the next generation.