“To write is to think. How will language skills be affected when AI becomes part of the basic thinking job?”
2025-05-08
New Republic Insight #8
“The evolution can be described as a balance of power between human and machine capabilities.”
Language is a living organism - constantly changing, shaped by society, technology and people, with AI as a new factor.
AI tools now influence our use of language on a daily basis. They suggest phrasing and correct spelling. In doing so, we also give up some of the initiative. Ultimately, we risk weakening our linguistic ability. At the same time, language models can be trained to mimic our language and become a partner in writing.
On the one hand, the tools can preserve a certain view of language, based on formal Swedish. On the other hand, used consciously and methodically, they can develop language. The power over language lies in our ability to know how and where we want to express it.
And, language development is a dynamic everyday movement. Slang has been used throughout history. Dialects became more audible in national media 50 years ago, causing an outcry, but are now taken for granted. What is considered 'correct' is verified through everyday language. Local Swedish, for example, is expected to play an increasingly important role in the future, according to research. Words like keff, chill and soft are already part of everyday language.
To write is to think. So how are language skills affected when AI becomes part of the basic thinking process? The tone we set in an initial sketch or draft is likely to be reflected in the final version. The question is also what the unconscious influence is?
Influence is exerted by tools that produce text to order, built on a platform with a partly different cultural preconception than our own. Differences in conceptual understanding and values can change our view of the value of words.
For most people, AI is still a new factor in language use that has entered as a swirling force. The development can be described as a balance of power between human and machine capabilities.
Allowing this balance of power to weigh in our favor can probably only be done in one way - through our independent use of language - in speech and writing. For, linguistic ability is a perishable commodity.
Daniel Nordlund
Senior Consultant, New Republic