What AI earbuds can’t replace: The value of learning another language
In an era where technology is rapidly transforming communication, the advent of AI-powered translation tools promises to revolutionize how we interact across languages. Imagine being in Osaka, Japan, where your words are seamlessly translated into flawless Kansai Japanese through a pair of headphones, while you receive clear responses in your native language. This scenario, once the realm of science fiction, is becoming a reality, offering a quick fix for cross-cultural communication. While these tools can significantly enhance interactions for tourists and in transactional situations, experts in linguistics and computer-assisted language learning caution against viewing them as a replacement for the deep, transformative process of learning a language.
Historically, technological innovations have often disrupted language learning, with apps like Duolingo making language acquisition more accessible through gamification. Despite their popularity—Duolingo boasted over 113 million monthly active users by the end of 2024—these platforms often fall short of fostering the social interactions that are crucial for effective language learning. The true essence of mastering a language lies in the ability to engage in live conversations, where nuances such as humor, idioms, and body language play a critical role in building trust and identity. While AI tools may facilitate basic conversations and transactional exchanges, they risk oversimplifying the rich, complex nature of human communication, leading to a loss of meaning and interpersonal connection.
Moreover, the cognitive and social benefits of learning a language extend far beyond mere communication. Studies have shown that multilingualism contributes to cognitive resilience, empathy, and a deeper understanding of diverse perspectives. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the need for genuine language learning grows, particularly in contexts where cultural nuance matters. Educators are called to rethink language instruction in light of AI advancements, focusing on fostering curiosity, empathy, and critical thinking through rich, culturally immersive experiences rather than relying solely on technology for rote learning. In this way, the enduring value of language learning is not just about acquiring vocabulary but about cultivating meaningful connections and cognitive growth that technology alone cannot replicate.
Being able to follow and contribute to a live group conversation is the gold standard of language learning.
Zinkevych/iStock via Getty Images
Your host in Osaka, Japan, slips on a
pair of headphones
and suddenly hears your words transformed into flawless Kansai Japanese. Even better, their reply in their native tongue comes through perfectly clear to you.
Thanks to artificial intelligence, neither of you is lost in translation. What once seemed like science fiction is
now marketed as a quick fix
for cross-cultural communication.
Such AI-powered tools will be useful for many people, especially for tourists or in any purely transactional situation, even if seamless
automatic interpretation remains at an experimental stage
.
Does this mean the process of learning another language will soon be a thing of the past?
As scholars of
computer-assisted language learning
and
linguistics
, we disagree and see language learning as vital in other ways. We have devoted our careers to this field because we deeply believe in the lasting and transformative value of learning and speaking languages beyond one’s mother tongue.
Lessons from past language ‘disruptions’
This isn’t the first time a new technology has promised massive disruption to learning languages.
In recent years, language learning startups such as Duolingo aimed to make acquiring a language easier than ever, in part by gamifying language. While these apps have certainly
made learning more accessible
to more people,
our research shows
most platforms and apps have failed to fully replicate the inherently social process of learning a language.
Duolingo had over 113 million monthly active users at the end of 2024.
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
One thing’s clear: The massive popularity of language apps shows there’s still strong demand
for language learning
, despite a
sharp decline in formal education settings
. Duolingo alone had
113.1 million monthly active users
around the world at the end of 2024, a 36% increase over the prior year. This is about 10 times more than the number of students who take languages other than English in U.S. schools.
The meaning of learning a language
Numbers aside, the gold standard of language learning is the ability to follow and
contribute to a live group conversation
.
Since World War II, government departments and education programs recognized that
text-centered grammar-translation
methods did little to support real interaction. Interpersonal conversational competence gradually became the main goal of language classes. While technologies you can put in your ear or wear on your face now promise to revolutionize interpersonal interaction, their usefulness in such conversations actually falls along a spectrum.
At one end, you have simple tasks you have to navigate while visiting a city where they speak a different language, like checking out of a hotel, buying a ticket at a kiosk or finding your way around town. That is, people from different backgrounds working together to achieve a goal – a successful checkout, a ticket purchase or getting to the famous museum you want to visit. Any mix of
languages, gestures or tools
– even AI tools – can help in this context. In such cases, where the goal is clear and both parties are patient, shared English or automated interpretation can get the job done while bypassing the hard work of language learning.
At the other end, identity matters as much as content. Meeting your in-laws, introducing yourself at work, welcoming a delegation or presenting to a skeptical audience all involve trust and social capital. Humor, idioms, levels of formality, tone, timing and body language shape not just what you say but who you are.
The effort of learning a language communicates respect, trust and a willingness to see the world through someone else’s eyes. We believe language learning is one of the most demanding and rewarding forms of deep work, building cognitive resilience, empathy, identity and community in ways technology struggles to replicate.
The 2003 movie “
Lost in Translation
,” which depicts an older American man falling in love with a much younger American woman, was not about getting lost in the language but delved into issues of interculturality and finding yourself while exposed to the other.
Indeed,
accelerating mobility
due to climate migration, remote work and retirement abroad all increase the need to learn languages – not just translate them. Even those staying in place often seek deeper connections through language as
learners with familial and historical ties
.
A Spanish learner from China negotiates meaning with an English learner from Mexico in California.
Gabriel Guillén, 2025
,
CC BY-SA
Where AI falls short
The latest AI technologies, such as
those used by Apple’s newest AirPods
to instantly interpret and translate, certainly are powerful tools that will help a lot of people interact with anyone who speaks a different language in ways previously only possible for someone who spent a year or two studying it. It’s like having your own personal interpreter.
Yet relying on interpretation carries
hidden costs
: distortion of meaning, loss of interactive nuance and diminished interpersonal trust.
An
ethnography of American learners
with strong motivation and near limitless support found that falling back on speaking English and using technology to aid translation may be easier in the short term, but this undercuts long-term language and integration goals. Language learners constantly face this choice between short-term ease and long-term impact.
Some AI tools help accomplish immediate tasks, and
generative AI apps can support acquisition
but can take away the
negotiations of meaning
from which durable skills emerge.
AI interpretation may suffice for one-on-one conversations, but
learners usually aspire
to join ongoing conversations already being had among speakers of another language. Long-term language learning, while necessarily friction-filled, is nevertheless beneficial on many fronts.
Interpersonally, using another’s language fosters both
cultural
and
cognitive
empathy.
In addition, the cognitive benefits of multilingualism are equally well documented:
resistance
to
dementia
,
divergent thinking
,
flexibility
in shifting
attention
,
acceptance
of
multiple perspectives and explanations
, and
reduced bias
in reasoning.
The very attributes
companies seek
in the AI age – resilience, lifelong learning, analytical and creative thinking, active listening – are all cultivated through language learning.
Rethinking language education in the age of AI
So why, in the
increasingly multilingual U.K.
and U.S., are fewer students choosing to learn another language in
high school
and at
university
?
The reasons are complex.
Too often, institutions
have struggled to demonstrate the relevance
of language studies. Yet innovative approaches abound, from
integrating language in the contexts of other subjects
and linking it to
service and volunteering
to connecting students with others through
virtual exchanges
or community partners via
project-based language learning
, all while
developing intercultural skills
.
So, again, what’s the value of learning another language when AI can handle tourism phrases, casual conversation and city navigation?
The answer, in our view, lies not in fleeting encounters but in cultivating enduring capacities: curiosity, empathy, deeper understanding of others, the reshaping of identity and the promise of lasting cognitive growth.
For educators, the call is clear. Generative AI can take on rote and transactional tasks while excelling at error correction, adapting input and vocabulary support. That frees classroom time for multiparty, culturally rich and nuanced conversation.
Teaching approaches grounded in interculturality, embodied communication, play and relationship building will thrive. Learning this way enables learners to critically evaluate what AI earbuds or chatbots create, to join authentic conversations and to experience the full benefits of long-term language learning.
Thor Sawin has received funding for teacher development projects through the State Department Fulbright Specialist and English Language Specialist program, as well as the US Air Force and LCC International University in Lithuania.
Gabriel Guillén does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
