Here comes Babel…
Is there a way to opt out from becoming AI-food?
I spent some time having conversations with people in Palestine, they would write in Arabic and I would write in English, both sides would receive contents in their own language. Although it’s useful for basic conversation, it really becomes very hard to catch subtleties and requires forming very explicit and unambiguous sentences for the AI not to trip. A translation error can have disastrous consequences. Such features should really not become common place. For Discourse Meta, it makes sense, because it enables non-English speakers to ask questions and get solid technical feedback. But be careful with what you wish for. Once you have your forum overwhelmed by people speaking a language you don’t understand, not only you become dependent on Gaggle AI, but you also lose agency, and your community content becomes AI fodder. Who wants to discuss in a place where meaning is lost in AI translation? If there’s no way to distinguish a human speaking through a babelfish from a generative AI babbling, we’re going down.