On the Eve of AI Translation, Japanese May Begin Reflecting Back on Itself

Tomorrow, AI-powered multilingual translation will begin on note.

But perhaps this change is not only moving outward.

Perhaps it is also beginning to return toward Japanese itself.

Cryptocurrency, born during the subprime mortgage crisis, eventually exposed the weaknesses of existing currencies and reserve systems themselves.

And later, during wartime and periods of oil supply instability, it began to function not merely as speculation, but as an actual means of exchange.

AI translation may follow a similar path.

It may not simply make foreign languages more accessible.

It may also begin to reveal — almost like something slowly seeping through — the structure of Japanese thought itself, and the question of what we consider to be “understanding.”

For a long time, we have communicated by omitting subjects, sharing atmosphere, and exchanging even the unspoken traces of feeling and presence between one another.

And perhaps these changes will emerge not first through formal education or textbooks, but through everyday spaces like note and social media, where people gradually — almost unconsciously — begin adapting to them before institutions ever begin teaching them.

In much the same way we began seeing traces of presence and breath itself within only 140 characters.

Even if AI translation continues to improve, humans may still continue forming relationships without ever fully understanding one another.

If so, perhaps the real question ahead is not translation accuracy alone.

But how we continue to coexist with people we may never completely understand.

And perhaps, on this eve of multilingual AI translation, the outline of that question is only now beginning to emerge.

Image courtesy of　dongmu　 (from Photo Gallery).
Grateful to use this beautiful work.

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