Artificial intelligence has transformed the way we communicate across languages—especially in academic and professional settings.
As translation becomes faster, more natural, and increasingly invisible, the long-standing barrier of language is rapidly disappearing.
But as that barrier falls, a deeper question emerges: what happens to culture when language is no longer an obstacle?
It can be challenging to shift one’s gaze back and forth between the images on the screen and the subtitles, but before long, it may become entirely normal to listen to spoken translations delivered directly through our smartphones.
Writing letters to people overseas has also become remarkably easy.
What once required considerable effort—even for a simple seasonal greeting—can now be done in as little as five seconds, producing a polished and appropriate response.
All of this is thanks to AI.
AI-generated English may differ subtly from that of native speakers, but as long as it can be accurately translated back into Japanese, communication rarely fails.
Unless one is attempting to produce refined literary prose, AI-generated English is more than sufficient for non-native speakers to convey objective facts at academic meetings.
The language barrier has been dramatically lowered in just the past few years.
One commonly cited reason Japanese people struggle with English is that Japan rapidly translated and absorbed Western knowledge into its own language.
In medicine, a classic example is Kaitai Shinsho.
Through this early translation work, much of anatomical terminology became firmly established in Japanese, reducing the need to consult original foreign texts.
It is easy to dismiss this as a form of linguistic “Galápagos isolation,” but the reality may be more nuanced.
While working with AI on submissions for international conferences, I began to notice that Western and Japanese patterns of thinking appear to differ.
To me, these differences seem subtle, but AI appears to detect them quite clearly.
This observation suggests a new possibility: the importance of presenting Japanese ways of thinking to the global community.
Until now, the Japanese language—complex and distant from Western languages—has served as a kind of protective barrier for Japanese culture. How this will change in the coming years remains uncertain.
Many people around the world have long been drawn to Japanese culture, but their numbers may well increase further.
Last year, the number of visitors to Japan reportedly exceeded 40 million, and this trend is likely to continue.
With so many people coming into direct contact with the country, the number who become deeply captivated by Japanese culture will surely grow.
AI is rapidly lowering the barrier of language—and in doing so, it is also lowering the barrier of culture.
How far will that cultural barrier ultimately fall?
