Posters

Friend or Foe: Considering What Pronunciation Teachers Can Do That ChatGPT Cannot

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Abstract

Just as pronunciation teaching was emerging as a prominent focus in language education, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has raised questions about the potential redundancy of human educators. ChatGPT, a sophisticated open-source model designed for conversational responses, has seen a surge in popularity. This tool can efficiently generate lesson plans and activities customized to students' levels and preferred topics, offering significant time-saving benefits and serving as a valuable teaching assistant. It also boasts capabilities in audio and speech recognition, which some learners are already utilizing for conversational practice. Despite these advancements, this paper argues for the unique and irreplaceable role of human teachers, particularly in identifying and addressing individual pronunciation challenges and fostering confidence through empathy and personal connection—qualities yet beyond the reach of AI.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, speech recognition, pronunciation training

How to Cite:

Lima, E. & Wallace, L. (2024).  Friend or Foe: Considering What Pronunciation Teachers Can Do that Chatgpt Cannot. In D. J. Olson, J. L. Sturm, O. Dmitrieva, & J. M. Levis (eds), Proceedings of 14th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference, (pp. 1-11) Purdue University, September 2023. https://doi.org/10.31274/psllt.16111