ERIC Number: EJ1459451
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0155-0640
EISSN: EISSN-1833-7139
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Meeting Standards: (Re)Colonial and Subversive Potential of AI Modification
Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, v47 n3 p366-382 2024
AI potential to recolonise language practices by reproducing existing marginalisations in novel ways has already instilled fears of a 'contemporary dystopia' (Miras et al., 2022) -- a space of cultural and linguistic erasure. Accents represent a distinctive aspect of language practice associated with one's sociocultural, and ethno-racial characteristics. They account for one's social identity, status, and proficiency (De Klerk & Bosch, 1995). This makes practices of artificially modifying accents particularly concerning, since they play into the 'zero' accent ideology. As a result, any deviation from the norm is marked as abnormal or deficient, and in need of, artificial correction. Using AI accent generators, therefore, has the capacity to further aggravate power inequalities between the linguistically privileged and underprivileged, and to encourage changes in self-representation towards what is perceived as the normative Standard. Artificial modification of self to match a desired representation is not new, given the long-standing discussions on digital image alterations and their negative relationships to self-perceived attractiveness (Ozimek et al., 2023). This conceptual paper explores the (re)colonial and subversive linguistic potential of AI accent generators through the lens of the social tendency of individuals to strive to meet a given Standard. Using the notion of 'technologies of the self ' (Foucault, 1988), we draw a parallel between self-perceived attractiveness of bodies and accents, to explain how artificial modifications do not straightforwardly support diversities, but instead encourage 'self-corrections' in line with those standardized sets of features which seem to promise a 'better' socioeconomic and educational standing within neoliberal societies.
Descriptors: Artificial Intelligence, Conflict, Resilience (Psychology), Systems Approach, Standards, Colonialism, Decolonization, Language Usage, Power Structure, Disadvantaged, Language Attitudes, Influence of Technology, Language Minorities, Pronunciation, Language Maintenance, Cultural Maintenance, Dialects, Deception, Media Adaptation, Self Expression, Self Concept, Foreign Countries, Sociolinguistics
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A