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The Modern Babel Tower is AI
Is humanity receding to a utopia?
A massive tower spiraling to heaven, crumbling at its feet. Workers on their knees, bricks stacked, walls falling to pieces. In Pieter Bruegel’s painting of the Tower of Babel, ambition took men too far. The world strives for unity and rule through one language, only to collapse under its own weight.
The Tower of Babel is a Biblical story that tells us of men who aspired to build a tower to reach Heaven; in an attempt to make a name for themselves and remain united, they created a monster greater than themselves that led them to being punished with linguistic incomprehension and subsequently condemned to being dispersed across earth.
Well, it seems to me that history is repeating itself in reverse mode.
For many of us linguists and language lovers the idea of effortless interlinguistic communication seems like a dream come true: for the first time in history, we can communicate instantly with virtually anyone, regardless of their native language.
But, is this real togetherness? Or, on the contrary, is this phenomenon isolating us into our own spheres, where we make no effort whatsoever to speak a different language or understand someone else’s point of view?
