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People use languages to communicate their feelings, needs and identities (Jones, 2016). In this globalizing world, language has become more and more important. Even though communicating with someone is much easier now because we have multiple ways to get in touch with someone, misunderstandings and mistranslations are still commonplace (De Valoes, 2014).

Google has recently introduced Google Pixel Earbuds, the earbuds that can make real-time translations in 40 different languages (Champy, 2017). People refer to it the introduction as ‘The real Babel Fish’, which is a reference to ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, a comedy science fiction book (Gershgorn, 2017). The Babel Fish is a universal translator, which is directly stuck to someone’s brain and immediately translates any verbal language (Adams, 1979).

So now when you are on a holiday in another country and you don’t speak the language, do not worry. Google will help you get in touch with the people there and the best part is that it works both ways. The earbuds are linked to Google Assistant and you can use the translation option when using Google Translate on your Android phone (Champy, 2017). The only thing you have to do is follow these steps:

1. Hold on to your right earbud and say ‘Help me speak [insert one of the 40 languages, for example] Swedish’.
2. Put your phone on speaker and talk in your own language.

It then automatically translates everything you say to the language you choose. But of course, you would also like to understand the other person. Therefore, it makes sure that when the other person speaks in their language, it automatically translates the message to your earbuds in the language you understand.

However, there are some drawbacks. For example, it only works if you pair the earbuds with a phone that works on Pixel or Android (Nougat 7.0 or higher) (Seppala, 2017). Therefore, iPhone users might have to wait a bit longer. This can be good news for the Android users! Now is the time to swoop in and charm your holiday fling with some romantic poetry from your own language. Be careful, though, as we all know that Google translate can still make some mistakes and we wouldn’t want that to happen.

Here is a demonstration of the Google Pixel Earbuds:

References

Adams, D. (1979). The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. London (UK): Del Rey.

Champy, A. (2017, October 4). Google Pixel Buds–wireless headphones that help you do more. Retrieved October 5, 2017, from blog.google: https://www.blog.google/products/pixel/pixel-buds/

De Valoes, L. (2014, February 26). Importance of Language – Why Learning a Second Language is Important | Continuing Education – Trinity Washington University. Retrieved October 2, 2017, from trinitydc.edu: http://www.trinitydc.edu/continuing-education/2014/02/26/importance-of-language-why-learning-a-second-language-is-important/

Gershgorn, D. (2017, October 4). Google (GOOG) built earbuds that translate 40 languages in real time like the Hitchhiker’s Guide’s ”Babel fish” – Quartz. Retrieved October 5, 2017, from qz.com: https://qz.com/1094638/google-goog-built-earbuds-that-translate-40-languages-in-real-time-like-the-hitchhikers-guides-babel-fish/

Jones, R. G. (2016). Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies. University of Minnesota Libraries. Retrieved October 2, 2017

Seppala, T. J. (2017, October 4). Google made its own earbuds because it killed the headphone jack. Retrieved October 5, 2017, from engadget.com: https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/04/google-pixel-2-wireless-earbuds/

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There have been multiple books written on the existential risk of artificial intelligence(AI) subject. It used to only be a theory and people speculated about what could happen. However, the technology is advancing rapidly and it might be closer than expected. Elon Musk, one of the most innovative inventors and biggest business magnates of the world, has been trying to warn people about this risk (Domonoske, 2017). Back in 2015, a letter was presented at the International Joint Conference on Artifical Intelligence in Buenos Aires by Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Steve Wozniak and many other scientists, researchers and academics. In this letter, they try to alert people to the possibility of a military artificial intelligence arms race (Charles Riley at CNN, 2015). These are people the whole world looks up to and goes to for advice. Why are we not taking precautions yet?

It might be because we, ‘the normal folk’, don’t expect something like this to happen anytime soon. Most people are not in contact with AI research every day and are also not up to date on the latest developments. If people who seem experts in this subject tell us that we do not have to worry about it yet, then who are we to question them? Oren Etzioni wrote an article last year on how experts do not think that superintelligent AI is a threat to humanity (Etzioni, 2016). He is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Washington and works as the CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. The article showed that he got in contact with 80 other researchers and experts on the subject and concluded we cannot foresee anything considering superintelligence as there is no available data yet (Etzioni, 2016).

That begs the question, who should we believe? Which group is more reliable? I try to keep up with the latest developments on AI to see what the progress is, however, there is almost too much data to follow. I guess time will tell if there is a chance that the movie I, Robot will come true or not.

References

Charles Riley at CNN. (2015, July 28). Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking warn over ‘killer robots’ – Jul. 28 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2017, from money.cnn.com: http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/28/technology/ai-weapons-robots-musk-hawking/index.html

Domonoske, C. (2017, July 17). Elon Musk Warns Governors: Artificial Intelligence Poses ‘Existential Risk’ : The Two-Way : NPR. Retrieved October 10, 2017, from npr.org: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/17/537686649/elon-musk-warns-governors-artificial-intelligence-poses-existential-risk

Etzioni, O. (2016, September 20). No, the Experts Don’t Think Superintelligent AI is a Threat to Humanity – MIT Technology Review. Retrieved October 10, 2017, from technologyreview.com: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602410/no-the-experts-dont-think-superintelligent-ai-is-a-threat-to-humanity/