To Use or Not to Use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Solve Terminology Issues?

Ekaterini Nikolarea

This study will turn around the difficulties non-English speaking researchers encounter when they try to communicate their local research in the globalized context of international conferences (such as IIIS), where English is used as lingua franca. The presenter will embroider her presentation around a technical term in English - such as grid - and in Modern Greek - such as θέμα (: topic of an essay; theme, as in 'thematic units'; and issue, as in "there is an issue here"), compare them with their equivalent terms in Spanish, French and German and try to systematize the research steps (or advanced translation steps and tools) required for a non-English speaking scientist to find the right term in order to make himself/herself understood by a wider international public who communicates in English. During the discussion, the author of this study will try to show how far the AI can help HI (Human Intelligences or nous) in this kind of research, depending on whether researchers are: (1) aware of the polysemy of scientific discourse (i.e. the non-existence of 1:1 equivalence of terms between at least two different linguistic systems), and (2) trained in using comparative and associative thinking. As the writer of this study will claim, it is finally HI who decides which term(s) s/he is going to use, exercising his/her own judgement after s/he has taken into consideration the scientific and social context of the term.

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