The Pocket Calculator, Google Translate, and Chat-GPT: From Disruptive Technologies to Curricular Innovation with Invited Guest Speakers, Per Urlaub and Eva Dessein, MIT

This Friday, the Language Resource Center will be holding a talk with invited guest speakers, Professors Per Urlaub and Eva Dessein, MIT. The talk will discuss the disruptive potential of AI technologies such as Google Translate and ChatGPT in foreign language/literacy education. The first part of the talk defines the concept of disruption and uses the pocket calculator as a historical example to illustrate challenges and solutions for an educational setting that was fundamentally impacted by new technology. The second part will turn to the present and focus on the impact of online translators not only on ways humans communicate across languages in authentic real-world settings but also on the FL classroom.

The presenters will argue that a careful recalibration of educational objectives that include the student’s ability to engage effectively in tasks that rely on human-machine collaboration will provide an opportunity to integrate online translators and related technologies into foreign language curricula. In conclusion, the presentation will draw a parallel to ChatGPT and related generative AI technologies and argue that language, writing, and humanities programs need to respond to these innovations not by banning their use in educational settings, but by recalibrating instruction, assessment, and curriculum. To remain relevant, educators need to instruct and empower learners to become effective and ethical users of AI technologies while providing them opportunities to discover their intellectual limitations.