Can AI help us save endangered languages?
From What in the World by BBC World Service
June 9, 2026 · 9 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the role of AI in preserving endangered languages and the associated risks.
Around half of the world’s languages are in danger of disappearing, according to UNESCO. Languages often become endangered when parents stop talking in them to their children, when schools no longer offer them on the curriculum - or when governments don’t recognise them as official languages that need to be protected. Campaigners are calling for more efforts to preserve them - and the history, heritage and culture they carry - and they’re using an unlikely tool: AI. But there are concerns that artificial intelligence could actually create more language inequality, because it’s mainly trained on a handful of dominant languages. So, could AI stop endangered languages from going extinct? Or will it speed up their demise? Journalist and author Sophia Smith Galer joins us to explain how languages become endangered, how AI is being used to combat this and the risks of using the technology to preserve languages. And we hear from Ivory Yang in the US, who built an AI tool to help preserve her grandmother’s endangered language, Nüshu. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Chelsea Coates and William…
People in this episode
Host: Hannah Gelbart
Guest: Sophia Smith Galer
Topics covered
- endangered languages
- AI technology
- language preservation
- cultural heritage
- language inequality
Keywords
- endangered languages
- AI
- language preservation
- UNESCO
- cultural heritage
- language inequality
- Nüshu
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: UNESCO, BBC World Service
More episodes of What in the World
- Why does President Trump want Iran’s Kharg Island? · June 12, 2026 · 9 min
- Will the PCOS name change help young women get treatment? · June 11, 2026 · 13 min
- Why is Russia cutting the internet and blocking apps? · June 10, 2026 · 11 min
- Google wants to release millions of mosquitoes in the US · June 8, 2026 · 11 min
- Protests against illegal migrants in South Africa: What’s going on? · June 5, 2026 · 11 min
- Job hugging: Why nobody wants to quit their job · June 4, 2026 · 10 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the What in the World podcast page.