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Could Artificial Intelligence save Scottish Gaelic?

The future is uncertain for Gaelic and most of the world’s minority languages. Could cutting-edge language technologies be the key to their survival? English speakers can now hold real-time spoken conversations with apps like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. What breakthroughs are needed to get us to that point for Gaelic? How might such a transformation affect language revitalisation efforts, for better and for worse?

This lecture introduces modern language technology to a general audience, showcasing ongoing research involving Gaelic at the University of Edinburgh. It then addresses tensions in collaborations between big tech and minority language communities, such as navigating data ownership and cultural preservation. Finally, it looks ahead, considering how AI might help revitalise not just Gaelic, but other minority languages.