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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent

Icelandic is in danger of dying out because of AI and English-language media, says former PM

Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Ragnar Jónasson leaning against a wall
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, a former prime minister of Iceland, and Ragnar Jónasson have co-written two Icelandic noir crime novels. Photograph: Handout

Iceland’s former prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, has said that the Icelandic language could be wiped out in as little as a generation due to the sweeping rise of AI and encroaching English language dominance.

Katrín, who stood down as prime minister last year to run for president after seven years in office, said Iceland was undergoing “radical” change when it came to language use. More people are reading and speaking English, and fewer are reading in Icelandic, a trend she says is being exacerbated by the way language models are trained.

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