Written by Leah Bramble
On January 17, 2024, we saw the release of another range of Samsung devices, including the new S24(1). Besides from the fact that the new phone looked good, one of its most desirable features was the new Live Translate, a real-time language translator which allows people to converse over the phone in several languages with no risk of misunderstanding. The current model supports 13 languages including Korean and Italian. The phone was test-driven using a local Korean restaurant where the owners were native Korean speakers, so you don’t have to worry that it’s as bad as Google Translate. But given the rise in work calls replacing company trips, in a corporate setting, does this feature effectively eradicate the need for translators and language learning?
Needless to say, replacing translators with Samsung phones would severely cut company costs. Buying a phone requires a one-off payment of £799 (2) or payment in instalments of £33.30, compared to the salary of a translator. In the United Kingdom, the average salary of a translator is approximately £25,000. Assuming every sector does this, this will cause mass unemployment of translators and reduce the demand for language skills.
Learning a language has large benefits for the brain. A study carried out by the University of Cambridge found that the brains of adults who had learned a language had physically changed; their ‘grey matter’ areas had become denser, and their ‘white matter’ areas had increased integrity. Grey matter consists of the brain’s neurons and dendrites, which monitor communication between the brain and other parts of the body, whilst white matter monitors communication between the different parts of the brain. Simply put, learning a language allows the brain to function better.
When I first learnt about this several weeks ago, I was amazed at the idea of being able to converse with someone in a language that I didn’t know and being able to understand them. But with advancements like this, it makes me sad that we are closer to effectively making the skills of humanity completely redundant. There comes a point when advancements like this need to stop.
References:
Samsung. (2024). Breaking Language Barriers: Trying out AI-Powered Live Translate on Galaxy S24 Ultra in San Jose, CA. https://news.samsung.com/global/galaxy-unpacked-2024-breaking-language-barriers-trying-out-ai-powered-live-translate-on-galaxy-s24-ultra-in-san-jose-ca
Samsung. (2024). Galaxy-S24 | Galaxy-S24+. https://www.samsung.com/uk/smartphones/galaxy-s24/buy/
Cambridge University. (2024) How Learning a New Language Changes Your Brain https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2022/04/29/learning-language-changes-your-brain/