The past year was difficult for nearly every sector, and unfortunately January has greeted us with more unrest. Once again, good people are left to summon the strength to remain curious rather than surrender to judgment.
There are times in our lives when all we have is our humanity. It appears we are in one of those times.
And recently, my greatest teacher about humanity has been AI.
The more we worked with Artificial Intelligence this past year, the more profound the partnership became. AI's remarkable capabilities didn't replace our human judgment; they revealed it. The technology showed us exactly where our humanity mattered most.
The better AI got at language, the clearer our complementary strengths became. Whereas AI brings precision, consistency, and the ability to process patterns at extraordinary scale, human linguists bring judgment, cultural nuance, and the ability to navigate what cannot be reduced to patterns.
Together, they accomplish what neither could alone. AI didn't diminish the human role; it elevated it by handling the mechanical so people could focus on the meaningful.
The Lesson
I used to think that what made human linguists special was their immense technical skill. But AI has revealed that their greatest gift is how they carry human complexity across divides; providing not just accuracy, but the ability to listen when someone doesn’t yet know how to say what they need.
We are all a bit odd to one another; a bit misshaped. AI has shown me that the core of our work has never been about perfect language. It’s about imperfect people in need of a little grace, and the extraordinary skill it takes to under them.
As a native European, I've learned that the miracle of your country is that around each corner lies a new lesson, a new story. Each neighbor contains multitudes.
To not see or listen or understand is more than just sad; it’s a missed opportunity.
To me, the chance to understand one another is the greatest opportunity in a land built on it. We can’t sacrifice that gift, and we won’t.
Just as we did last year, we will use technology and every other resource to the fullest extent possible. But it will be our connection to one another that gets us through, just as it has for more than four decades. Technology may change, but our humanity never will.
