Throughout history, the written word has served a fundamental purpose in the development and growth of civilizations. By committing thoughts, policies, philosophies, and more to paper, societies have been able to document and transfer knowledge and culture from one generation to the next. In the current age, the written word is undergoing a momentous transformation, as Artificial Intelligence (AI) models are trained on written text to develop insights and inform decision-making. This technological progress can be potent. However, societies without much-written material are at significant risk of being left behind.
One can trace this risk back to Ancient Greece when the shift from oral tradition to written text began to alter the course of history. The Greek historian Herodotus once wrote,
“For speaking passes away and is forgotten, whereas writing remains, and by its remains, it retains what is written.”
Without a written record of their stories, laws, and ideas, societies with strong oral traditions and no written documents quickly fell behind. They were ultimately left out of the march of human progress. This same phenomenon can now be seen with the rise of AI models trained on written text.
If a society does not have many written records, the AI models trained on them will be limited in scope. They may be unable to capture the full range of socio-cultural perspectives in a language, making them unreliable for decision-making. In some countries, for example, much of the written corpus comprises government data and official documents. AI models trained on this text may become biased and privilege specific perspectives, leaving certain groups of people out of the decision-making process.
Moreover, it may be incomplete or outdated even when training data is available. This can lead to AI models missing nuances and complexities of a language, resulting in algorithms that cannot effectively interpret spoken or written words or form a proper understanding of the context. This may lead to decisions that favor those who can articulate their ideas clearly in writing and leave out perspectives from other members of society whose arguments cannot be presented as cogently.