The Dialects of Computers
Publication Date
2025
Presentation Length
15 minutes
College
College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
Department
English, Department of
Student Level
Undergraduate
SPARK Category
Scholarship
Faculty Advisor
Monteverde
WELL Core Type
Intellectual Wellness
SPARK Session
English: Origins and Ends of Language
Presentation Type
Talk/Oral
Recommended Citation
Abstract: Computers have become one of the main ways for people to communicate. They have stripped down barriers in speech, allowing anyone, anywhere, to put their voice out onto the internet. Anything this big will by necessity change language, affecting both the language and how language is used. From the start, computers have been designed around language, being used, for example, to crack German codes in WW2. This connection with language and the utility it has in conflict has remained. Even now language is used in conjunction with computers to extract information like with scam emails that intentionally leave in mistakes to filter out the wrong people. These filters are also used on a large scale to draw in and control people through algorithms controlled by the owners of the platforms used on the internet. This control comes with many dangers, as free speech can be hampered by the individuals in control. Power is also used to section off parts of the internet to reduce people’s access to ideas, like in North Korea and China, as the internet is seen as a powerful tool for cultural warfare. This can be seen in how many countries employ bots to try to sway what views are seen as common and acceptable by flooding the internet with false voices. The nature of the internet also gives the individual power, through memes and smaller sections of the internet where people have more freedom to create communities, like with 4Chan, Tumblr, and the Furry community. These communities also develop their own dialects. All these cause massive changes for mankind and language, both good and bad. Ultimately, it has allowed language to change at an even faster pace than without it. There is also a large threat that computers bring in the consolidation of power. There are immense amounts of power in controlling the internet. Due to the recentness of all of this, we are just beginning to see what that means for language and humanity.
