The Power of Technology in Language Learning: Insights from ChatGPT

The Power of Technology in Language Learning: Insights from ChatGPT

The Technology-Magic border

As Arthur C. Clarke famously wrote in his 1962 Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible book, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Many authors and directors like Isaac Asimov, Dan Brown or Steven Spilberg would later, inspired by this idea, push this symbolic border between technology and magic far beyond possibility. Engulfed in mind-blowing sci-fi books and movies we might have overlooked the moment when our own world has crossed this technology-magic border.?

For the last couple of decades technological improvement has been increasing faster than ever before. AI, something that we used to read about in science fiction books, is now breaking into bloom before our very eyes. Let me introduce you to the most ground-breaking, revolutionary invention of the last decade - ChatGPT.?

An unnoticed breakthrough

ChatGPT is an Artificial Intelligence created and powered on 30th of November 2022 by OpenAI, a fast-developing company specialized in artificial intelligence. It’s an impressively advanced chatbot capable of learning through the use of RLHF, short for Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback. It’s fully capable of answering questions, pointing out and correcting mistakes and giving advice - all in a fluent conversational tone, based on information and experience that it gathers. It’s even able to write and fix codes, or give advice on philosophical topics! Without a shadow of a doubt, this ingenious chatbot is a great learner itself, but can it teach us how to learn languages? We asked it this question, and this is what we got:

“There is no one-size-fits-all method for learning a language, as different people may find different approaches to be more effective for them. However, some general tips for learning a language include:

1. Set specific and achievable goals for yourself, and track your progress regularly.
2. Practice regularly, even if it's only for a few minutes at a time. Consistency is key.
3. Immerse yourself in the language by listening to music, watching TV shows or movies, and talking with native speakers.
4. Use a variety of learning materials, such as books, podcasts, and language-learning apps, to supplement your studies.
5. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, as they are an important part of the learning process.

Ultimately, the best method for learning a language will depend on your individual learning style, goals, and resources.”

The first two things that stand out the most are the writing’s style and content. Let’s take a closer look at both of them:

1. Style

This short statement includes everything a perfect writing should include.

1. Text is segmented into paragraphs
2. Paragraphs themselves are short and well-organized
3. Each part of the structure serves its purpose
4. Linkers connect sentences and paragraphs into a coherent whole
5. Main points are presented as bullet points
6. The text is grammatically perfect

In other words, amongst other, previously mentioned skills, the Chatbot appears to be a flawless writer.?

2. Content

Don’t you have a strange feeling, that you’ve heard some of those tips somewhere before, maybe even all of them? You probably heard each of them from different people in different scenarios, but they seem so familiar and connected to each other. But does it really matter? It’s nothing new, after all, you’ve heard all of those tips before. How disappointing.?

… or is it?

The strength of computers that run our world doesn’t lay within reinventing the wheel, but rather organizing existing data into coherent systems and groups. And that’s exactly what ChatGPT did in this short statement. It searched for, grouped and analyzed every piece of data it could find, to ultimately display the best of the best results.?

Ultimately, it didn't invent anything new, it didn’t create new ways of learning languages. It simply searched through all the existing ones, and put the most effective, relevant ones on a neat list.?

The future is now

All in all, as an English teacher myself, I’m very happy that I’m not the only one to share and popularize knowledge about learning. Many people are asking me if I’m not scared about my career. The answer is simple: I’m even happier to be able to use such an amazing tool to open doors to knowledge about the world, people and ideas. One thing is certain - 30 November 2022 marks another shift in the border between technology and magic.