Will language as we know it cease to exist? What could this mean
for the way we live our lives?
Shining a light on the technology currently being developed to
revolutionise communication, The Future of Language distinguishes myth
from reality and superstition from scientifically-based prediction as it
plots out the importance of language and raises questions about its
future.
From the rise of artificial intelligence and speaking robots, to brain
implants and
computer-facilitated telepathy, language and communications expert
Philip Seargeant surveys the development of new digital 'languages',
such as emojis, animated gifs and memes, and investigates how
conventions of spoken and written language are being modified by new
trends in communication.
From George Orwell's fictional predictions in Nineteen Eighty-Four to
the very real warnings of climate activist Greta Thunberg, Seargeant
explores language through time, traversing politics, religion,
philosophy, literature, and of course technology, in the process.
Tracing how previous eras have imagined the future of language, from the
Bible to the works H. G. Wells, and from Star Wars to Star Trek, the
book reveals how perfecting language and communication has always been a
vital component of utopian dreams of the future.
Questioning the potential ramifications of recent and future
developments in communication on society and its ideals, The Future of
Language is a no holds barred investigation into the state of
civilisation and the impact that changes in language could have on our
lives.
