When the Medium IS the Messenger: Language Sustainability in the Age of AI,  by Professor Antonio Martinez-Arboleda 
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When the Medium IS the Messenger: Language Sustainability in the Age of AI,  by Professor Antonio Martinez-Arboleda 

16th November 2026
University Of Leeds

What impact can AI have on our languages, as vehicles for communication and repositories of knowledge? Explore the challenges and proposals for sustaining languages as living, community-led, cultural treasures in the age of AI. 

Our languages hold generations of human experience. Through them, communities create, interpret and share knowledge, giving meaning to the worlds we live in. However, as humans increasingly invoke the intercession of AI in our knowledge production processes, we also surrender control of the language that carries and embeds any new knowledge.   

Drawing on his work on Knowledge and Language Sustainability, Professor Antonio Martínez-Arboleda explores how the adoption of AI has the potential to redistribute influence over language usage and shape the future of languages. What happens to our words, ideas and cultures when key AI technologies are managed by new corporate actors? 

The talk connects these challenges with proposals for action, including collaboratively curated knowledge, open technologies and practices, and public-interest partnerships. It invites educators, researchers, cultural workers and communities to consider how individual and shared responsibility can sustain the diversity, vitality, and public interest purpose of our languages. Audience discussion will follow. 

Antonio Martínez-Arboleda is Professor in Open and Digital Education at the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies of the University of Leeds. His recent work connects language education, critical digital pedagogy, open educational practice and knowledge equity. His essay Language Sustainability in the Age of Artificial Intelligence explores the cultural and political implications of AI’s participation in language production, proposing approaches to democratic stewardship of languages and knowledge. His educational projects include Lingua Connect and the Luminaries.

Open to all | Hybrid Event | Booking required for online attendance

This is a Leeds City of Languages Festival event. Check the full programme at leedscityoflanguages.leeds.ac.uk