Editorial

Artificial intelligences and their interfaces with social life, language education, multimodality, and discourse

Abstract

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and algorithms have become increasingly present in our lives. This omnipresence has sparked tensions and raised questions regarding their impact on human life, social relations, and the dissemination of information and misinformation—including "fake news"—all of which influence our actions, representations, and, consequently, democratic life. At the same time, individual and collective movements are mounting resistance against the indiscriminate use of algorithms to replace human workers and are maintaining vigilance over the relationships between nation-states and the private sector—specifically, Big Tech companies.

From performing simple tasks to complex ones—such as generating text and video, speaking, conversing, and editing written work, among other language-based activities—these computational systems have gained widespread adoption and popularity. Consequently, they are being used by people across diverse social sectors, though not always with critical or discursive awareness. This has prompted numerous debates within the field of education regarding their impact on teaching, learning, and the work of educators, as well as issues concerning authorship, creativity, the development of critical awareness, the spread of prejudice, technological literacy, and the understanding of the languages ​​employed and the potential for multimodal transpositions.

Given the current relevance of this discussion and its impact on human life, we are delighted to present a collection of works in this issue that offer a comprehensive view of the challenges and opportunities arising from the increasingly widespread use of algorithmic technologies in the realm of language. We assembled an organizing team comprising individuals from various countries—Fei Victor Lim (Singapore), Camila Cárdenas (Chile), and Záira and Francis (Brazil)—in a collaborative effort to engage a diverse group of researchers. Our goal was to create a kaleidoscope of voices to address a complex and sensitive topic within the fields of Language and Communication studies.

This issue features 15 articles and a special section containing a review, an essay, and an interview. Two studies aim to map research conducted in various contexts, highlighting Brazil, Singapore, Spain, and Latin American countries. The remaining thirteen articles address issues related to linguistic and semiotic education, discussing possibilities for integrating language teaching and learning processes with Generative AI technologies. These studies were carried out at various centers worldwide, including Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, Macau, England, Spain, Uruguay, Chile, and the USA.