A particular that I feel would be of interest to a linguistic anthropologist are strong AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the video: Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence: Crash Course Computer Science #34, explains this as being a well-rounded human-like used for general purposes, but clarifies that no one has demonstrated anything resembling human-like artificial intelligence (AI) to date. But some do fear of a new concept on the rise of digitized knowledge for being strong AI. Digitized knowledge is anything that can be found online and retained knowledge as easy as a click of a search engine like google. The fear is that human beings eventually have to rest and well a computer does not. So, the fear would be the idea of knowledge retention of a computer would be above of what a human can retain.
Strong AI can retain information over time much faster than humans, leaving out chances of error. Strong AI can go illustrate trial and error at a pace faster than a human, resulting in effective tactics. The idea of having a strong AI, can further limit the access to human interaction and communication of research and development. If we limit the access to interaction because a strong AI can do something for a person at a faster rate, language acquisition, which requires human’s comprehension of words and sentence will be reduced to nonexistence. The idea of a strong AI (artificial intelligence) has its importance in society, especially on how many humans rely on technology, but limiting its ability to certain aspects away from how we produce language and interact.
Research question: If artificial intelligence is evolving more and more than time goes on, and if human beings give more reign of power to AI, what are the risks of AI forming new applications and software that create a “new language” that we as human beings cannot decipher? Further, indicating the notion that we created this mechanism of AI to convert transcribed code into comprehensible language, but because of what is expected of AI, there might new algorithms that we cannot decode. I believe that a linguistic anthropologist would be fascinated by the new forms of communication explored by artificial intelligence (AI) resulting in a new community based on knowledge that is acquired through technology. With the absence of human beings, concern to anybody especially a linguistic anthropologist, since most data is collected by a mixture of research methods. Essentially, in order for a linguistic anthropologist to gather data would be with either quantitative or qualitative or even both.
So how would a linguistic anthropologist continue to study any concept/mechanism, if they cannot capture essentially the knowledge required to understand culture. At the end of the day, artificial intelligence is a mechanism that has taken over our lives. AI is at our fingertips, a push of a button and we would know, “what are the consequences of UV rays?” or simply, “what ingredients are needed for a pot roast?” There has to be research done on AI, and how magnitudes of developing further into the future, might limit our language and progression for human interaction, to simply be taken over by voice recognition. Studies have to be conducted of language, and how AI can further our species dominance or if AI can reduce our forms of communication to a monolinguist culture. If the reliance we give to artificial intelligence (AI) can hurt our diversity of languages, by illustrating the risks of language acquisition and socialization through the process. Edward Sapir explains that vary notion, that language is one of the ultimate forces of socialization that has ever existed.
The risks are too great to give our power fully to AI, but without the research of linguistic anthropology, how will anyone know if there will be consequences to our language and how we communicate verbally and socially. One of the methods that can be used to carry out a linguistic anthropological project investigating the culture of artificial intelligence is ethnographic approaches, depending on the information gathered might result into: quantitative or qualitative, or both. Qualitive approaches illustrate the use of in-depth analysis of human behavior without the use of counting data as done with quantitative approaches. Jakobson’s model of multiple functions of language conveys the importance in multiple modalities like the use of a voice recorder to ethnically document interactions. There can also be methods that a linguistic anthropologist can do with participant observation and interviews that can help explain the pros and cons of artificial intelligence function in society today.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a method that facilitates computer system/ algorithms portraying human intelligence without an actual human having to be present. Artificial intelligence provides culture with accessible information and knowledge without the need of memorialization of said information. Linguistic anthropologists go through many stages in their research methods when gathering data and understanding if at any time they have to revise questions that might be bias to a subject. The obvious conclusion is the relationship between computer systems and human is technology advancement, but linguistics is also looking at elements like culture, language acquisition, socialization, and communication within a community. Advancements in computer systems has increased the dependence we as humans have on technology, but what sacrifices do we lose along the way with using AI like voice recognition, voice command, google search, or Bing.
The way we communicate, the way we express ourselves, and we exemplify our wants by the tone of our voices, is simply disappearing because artificial intelligence makes it easier to give command over. Yet, with doing so, we are losing of languages, with or without the notion of the diversity of dialects, and variation of culture without a region. We simply socialize ourselves to a monolinguist approach, and loss our bilingual or multilingual tongue. Linguistic approach has to study the components of using artificial intelligence and the risks of languages can suffer if we give command away, but also the discovering of a new language that those that use computer knows, is a new community full of new lingos and emojis to communicate.
One of the theories that formed the foundational body of scholarly opinions cited by Zentella in her ethnography is code switching. Growing Up Bilingual, she explains that the children she studies in her ethnography participant in a concept of switching from languages based if they are at home (Spanish) and in public (English), consequential forming relationships between their surroundings and language. Zentella is constructing a planform that demonstrates that depending on where someone is located in the world, language identifies connections to identity, socialization, culture, ethnicity, and relationships formed because of how we communicate.
Jakobson’s model of multifunctionality of language emphasizes that language is not just a form of communication, but has six different functions that interact with a speaker, whom than builds a context, send a message, make contact, then constructs a code, then addresses the contexts of the message. Jakobson is building on the idea that language is a complex function, that human use to communicate messages and that every message delivered can be portrayed a different way depending on who is the receiver. Not everyone someone meets we be able to understand the way someone communicate if there is no context of the information given. The children that Zentella studies are using code-switching as a form to communication with their families, but also to their surroundings, which in case is English.
The ability to speak English and Spanish at the same time, is not a random system, but a system nonetheless. Spanglish is a language that helps connect the children to their culture within (El Bloque), but also society. Code-switching provided these children with the ability to continue to participant in both cultures without having to choose one over the other. The ability to have two identities, with two language, bilingualism. Spanglish, Multilingualism, bilingualism, and code-switching formulated the foundation that is seen throughout Zentella’s work demonstrating how language is adaptive based on culture and necessity to communicate within our culture, giving us our idealities.
