One could use GPT3 to generate sentences that use the learner’s vocabulary. 80% known and 20% less well known (or configurable). Then generate a conversation or an article that is easy to understand. Or perhaps to simplify a given text that is too heavy to the vocabulary of the learners. The best way to learn is with content that fits your own level.
Just a crazy idea of mine, but maybe that would be useful to think about. And so far, this feature has no other platform.
(Correction: Seems I was wrong. There are some platforms that are already going in this direction)
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Can you please translate your post (idea) into layman’s terms? 
i agree, also in case of languages with totally different 1st 2nd and third person prepositions, for example Finnish, Arabic etc one can learn all in easiest person form first … for example 1st person sentences will suit to a traveler while a 3rd person case will suit to a listener. Most of the conventional books always used the 3rd form as a language instruction medium, gradually moving upto first person
Is this grammatically correct? When I look at some translations on Google translate, then I am sceptical.
I’d have to read the text to see how closely it matches to natural human language, but it seems that there should be an easy way to search text by unknown word % though. So wouldn’t you rather just use the human text instead of computer?
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You are right. Google translate would not fit this use case, because Google cannot understand context. But GPT-3 can do it. That’s why I got the idea.
Example: Turkish has no genders. When I translate Turkish, Google makes mistakes. Even if I have a name of the person at the beginning (e.g. female), it may be that Google uses the male form one or two sentences later.
You can try GPT-3 for free on the Internet. I made some tests.
The first three examples are from the Blog Idea Generator:
“Could Artificial Intelligence Be The Future Of Language Learning?
Learn how technology is used to teach language and the potential impact of artificial intelligence in the realm of education here.”
“An Introduction To Educational Natural Language Processing
This tutorial provides an introduction to the application of machine learning in the field of natural language processing for educational technology applications. The tutorial is intended for educators who have an interest in the application of machine learning to the field of education, including researchers, teachers and students.”
“Lingvist Review - How Does It Compare To Duolingo?
Lingvist offers a simple way to learn languages that is well suited for screen viewing computer or phone. The Lingvist program is designed to help you identify your weak areas in a foreign language. By pointing out specific issues in your current language ability, it can guide you in a customized way. This product is professionally developed by experienced teachers, credentialed experts in language education. It is based on the latest foreign language teaching methods.”
Next is from copy.ai and I used “a shot blog post” and “Faster learning using artificial intelligence” as an input to describe what the AI should generate.
Here’s what I got:
"Learning is hard.
It’s too easy to get stuck in a rut, and we’ve all been there—stuck in the same learning pattern, doing the same things over and over again.
But artificial intelligence can help us break out of our ruts and make learning faster, easier, and more effective than ever before.
Here are five ways that AI-based learning can help you learn faster:
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It helps you find what you need to learn faster. With AI-based search engines, you can quickly find the information you need for a particular topic or skill set without having to spend hours searching through hundreds of pages of text or hundreds of videos on YouTube.
-
It provides real-time feedback about your progress as you work through your lessons and activities. The AI learns from your performance and adjusts itself based on those results so it gets better at helping you learn at each stage of the process!"
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Is there anything that would search for content that is already written that is likely to be at your level. Ranking websites by complexity of vocabulary or readability would be a great start.
Very creative idea.
I posted this on the librarian slack channel but I might as well post it here too since it seems relevant:
Steve’s youtube video about AI in language learning reminded me of an app someone shared on hacker news, Quazel
It is an AI chat bot that you can “converse” with by talking in your microphone… I’ve played around with the french version for a few minutes.
I found the voice a bit robotic but it is a very interesting concept. Some posters on HN complained that the responses produced by the AI didn’t sound natural (almost like they were translated from english into the target language). I would be interested in what you guys think.
Do you know where I can find a service that does the same as the above but in Japanese?
edit: looks like copy.ai does.
That’s cool. I never thought that my idea had already been realized.
A few minutes ago I tried it. It’s still a bit bumpy (aka beta version), but as far as the simulated conversation is concerned, I’m happy with how it works.
The biggest problem I have in real conversations is that I can’t think of the answers fast enough. Now I can take a lot of time and work on getting faster. As I get better, a real conversation will then be easier and less awkward and embarrassing.
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Here’s a short dialogue I had in French with the Quazel chat bot. The location is in a park and you meet a stranger. Notice how the software is able to understand the context and respond accordingly.
AI: “Salut, ça te dérange si je m’assois ici ?”
me: “Non, pas du tout.”
AI: “Qu’est-ce qui t’amène au parc aujourd’hui ?”
me: “J’ai été congédié, alors j’ai le temps.”
AI: “C’est terrible ! Je suis désolé d’entendre ça. Que faisais-tu avant d’être congédiée ?”
me: “J’ai trop travaillé et puis tout le travail a disparu.”
AI: “C’est vraiment dur quand tu perds ton travail de façon inattendue. As-tu cherché du travail depuis lors ?”
me: “Non, non, j’adore être au parc.”
AI: “L’étranger pourrait dire quelque chose comme <C’est super que tu apprécies ton temps au parc, mais ne penses-tu pas qu’il est temps de commencer à chercher un emploi ?>”
me: “Bien”
One problem with learning using this AI is that you can’t adapt the AI to your language level. I think the level is too high at the moment.
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The biggest problem I have in real conversations is that I can’t think of the answers fast enough.
You could use an AI text message chatbot. This would give you time to answer/ask questions.
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Here’s another funny dialogue I had with the Quazel chat bot. It was in Turkish, but I will translate it into English here. The chat was about the alien invasion and I act as the captain of a spaceship:
AI: “What do you think about the alien invasion?”
me: “Fire! Just shoot!”
AI: “This is a rather aggressive stance! How did you come to that conclusion?”
me: “Attack is the best defense.”
AI: “Hmmm, I can understand where you’re coming from. But sometimes negotiation and diplomacy can be more effective than violence.”
me: “We don’t have time for that. The aliens are coming!”
AI: “I can understand your urgency, but we need to be smart about it. Unplanned attack can lead to disaster.”
me: “The aliens are right in front of our ship. Finally press the button, you idiot!”
The AI then babbles even further why it is not stupid. Well… I don’t think we’re going to win against the aliens with this AI. 