This Saturday morning a day will be held at the monastery of Sant Feliu de Guíxols aroundThe Catalan of machines: language, culture and artificial intelligence.I spoke with Xavier Duran, the person in charge and organizer.
"The EU has just rejected the official status of Catalan again," I tell him, "but something unexpected has happened with machines, which is that they are combating the downward equality that seemed so characteristic of capitalism, which in this respect teamed up with the states. There are exceptions contrary to Catalan, like Amazon, but in general the language is not banished, nor is it uncluttered, nor is the uncluttered Catalan of ChatGPT. Capitalism is above states..." "What's happening with machines is no coincidence," he answers me. "Luckily, we have very good research centers. The Barcelona Supercomputing Center will house a quantum computer, and from there comes AINA, which promotes Catalan in all its diversity. It says, 'He's falling asleep, stop for a coffee,' we want it to tell us in Catalan. AINA provides the tools to develop correctors, search engines... It's not like Musk says, 'We have to do it in Catalan!'" There are people working to ensure Catalan is available on the platforms. People like Albert Cuesta, who know what to do. German is the most popular, and Catalan is the third, but Catalan was the first language to create content after English. We have people at MIT in Boston and at NASA. There's a Catalan woman at Google with an important position.
"Languages," I tell him, "aren't neutral; they carry values. They contribute them to technology, I suppose. I'm fascinated by one of those Catalans you mention, Ramon (without the accent) López de Mántaras, who enriches the debate on AI with a humanist vision." "Exactly. Our motto is: the future challenges us, the past encourages us, and the present summons us. We need the intention, the desire, and the people. We're also organizing this event to connect people interested in Catalan in relation to machines."
The event will be broadcast live on TV Costa Brava's YouTube channel.
