The document discusses human-machine communication (HMC) and its application to the Esperanto community. It defines HMC and explores its epistemological consequences, challenging anthropocentrism. It then provides an overview of Esperanto, describing it as a planned language with a global community of practice. Finally, it examines HMC within the Esperanto community, how ChatGPT is being used in Esperanto publications, and predicts ChatGPT-like bots will be further integrated into Esperanto teaching and use.

1. Human-Machine Communication strategies
in today’s Esperanto community of practice
Federico Gobbo F.Gobbo@uva.nl
University of Groningen, Campus Fryslân, Leeuwarden, 15-16 May 2023
1

2. 1. Current issues in Human-Machine
Communication

3. A definition of Human-Machine Communication (HMC)
An emerging area of communication research focused on the study of the
“creation of meaning among humans and machines” (Guzman,
2018: 1) and the refinement and development of theory related to people’s
interactions with technologies such as agents and robots (Spence, 2019).
Guzman&Lewis2020 : 71
2

4. Epistemological consequences of HMC
• a challenge to antropocentrism: “e.g. the National Communication
Association’s website defines communication based on the transactional
model of human-human interaction” [Guzman & Lewis 2020: 73]
3

5. Epistemological consequences of HMC
• a challenge to antropocentrism: “e.g. the National Communication
Association’s website defines communication based on the transactional
model of human-human interaction” [Guzman & Lewis 2020: 73]
• HMC from channel to communicator H-through-MC leaves place to
H2MC [see Introduction of The Dawn of the Human-Machine Era, 2021]
3

6. Epistemological consequences of HMC
• a challenge to antropocentrism: “e.g. the National Communication
Association’s website defines communication based on the transactional
model of human-human interaction” [Guzman & Lewis 2020: 73]
• HMC from channel to communicator H-through-MC leaves place to
H2MC [see Introduction of The Dawn of the Human-Machine Era, 2021]
• functional aspects similarity and differences between Human-to-Human
Communication (H2HC) and H2MC: what is lost? what is gained?
3

7. Epistemological consequences of HMC
• a challenge to antropocentrism: “e.g. the National Communication
Association’s website defines communication based on the transactional
model of human-human interaction” [Guzman & Lewis 2020: 73]
• HMC from channel to communicator H-through-MC leaves place to
H2MC [see Introduction of The Dawn of the Human-Machine Era, 2021]
• functional aspects similarity and differences between Human-to-Human
Communication (H2HC) and H2MC: what is lost? what is gained?
• relational aspects social positioning of technology; how a person
interprets what a particular technology is in relation to themselves
(including which conceptualizations inform their interactions; e.g. ‘robot
journalists’)
Guzman&Lewis2020 : 78
3

8. Epistemological consequences of HMC
• a challenge to antropocentrism: “e.g. the National Communication
Association’s website defines communication based on the transactional
model of human-human interaction” [Guzman & Lewis 2020: 73]
• HMC from channel to communicator H-through-MC leaves place to
H2MC [see Introduction of The Dawn of the Human-Machine Era, 2021]
• functional aspects similarity and differences between Human-to-Human
Communication (H2HC) and H2MC: what is lost? what is gained?
• relational aspects social positioning of technology; how a person
interprets what a particular technology is in relation to themselves
(including which conceptualizations inform their interactions; e.g. ‘robot
journalists’)
Guzman&Lewis2020 : 78
• metaphysical aspects what does it mean to be human?
3

9. 2. Esperanto in a nutshell

10. A Special Professor of Interlinguistics and Esperanto
First version of my official web page at the UvA, 2014

11. Esperanto is a planned language
normative variety
language planning
continuum of language variation
language use
5

12. Esperanto shows all 5 dimensions of language variation
1. diamesic variation media axis: from Middle-Age manuscripts to Twitter
until ChatGPT
2. diastratic variation social class (or ‘strata’, from Latin: -stratic): e.g.,
working class vs royalty.
3. diatopic variation geographical axis: different accents on the two sides
of a river.
4. diaphasic variation according to situation (formal vs informal;
self-surveilled vs relaxed).
5. diachornic variation according to time (through generations).

13. Everything started in Tsarist Russia
Gobbo & Gamberoni, Bonvenon! 2019:17

14. Esperanto went beyond its European cradle
Bilingual sign in the Esperanto Fair, Togo, 2014

15. Esperanto speakers form a Community of Practice (CfP)
an aggregate of people who share similar interests in Esperanto as a com-
mon practice that shape their participation in the world and their ori-
entation to it, creating connections between group members in mutual
engagement, a joint enterprise and shared repertoires, such as discourses,
routines and rituals
Gobbo, in press, over Wegner 1998 definition of CfP
9

16. Esperantists, a technological avantgarde since its beginning
Garvı̀a, Esperanto and its Rivals 2015

17. Esperantists as Revolutionaries and Geeks
Fians, Esperanto Revolutionaries And Geeks 2021:231

18. Coolification of Esperanto: DLVS applied
Gobbo, Coolification and Language Vitality: The Case of Esperanto 2021, Table 1

19. 3. HMC applied to Esperanto

20. H-through-MC always the default in the Esperanto culture

21. H2MC as a simple communicator in Esperanto

22. ChatGPT as advanced H2MC in Esperanto: Aug 2022
Do you speak Esperanto? – I cannot speak Esperanto, as I am a big language model
trained by OpenAI. My main function is to help with language processing tasks, such
as answering questions or generate text. I was trained over a large quantity of text
data, but I am not able to speak or understand Esperanto or any other language. I can
only help in English. Do you have any other questions, so I can help you?

23. The Esperanto press starts to play with ChatGPT (1/4)

24. The Esperanto press starts to play with ChatGPT (2/4)

25. The Esperanto press starts to play with ChatGPT (3/4)

26. The Esperanto press starts to play with ChatGPT (4/4)

27. 4. Inconclusive concluding remarks

28. A CfP in search of its collocation in a changing ICT world
• openness every ICT novelty that uses Esperanto is worth exploring per se

29. A CfP in search of its collocation in a changing ICT world
• openness every ICT novelty that uses Esperanto is worth exploring per se
• uncertainness language-based ICTs are for Esperantists fascinating and a
threat at the same time

30. A CfP in search of its collocation in a changing ICT world
• openness every ICT novelty that uses Esperanto is worth exploring per se
• uncertainness language-based ICTs are for Esperantists fascinating and a
threat at the same time
• ChatGPT-like bots are made fun of (Libera Folio) or analysed (Revuo
Esperanto)

31. A CfP in search of its collocation in a changing ICT world
• openness every ICT novelty that uses Esperanto is worth exploring per se
• uncertainness language-based ICTs are for Esperantists fascinating and a
threat at the same time
• ChatGPT-like bots are made fun of (Libera Folio) or analysed (Revuo
Esperanto)
• prognosis ChatGPT-like bots will be integrated in Esperanto teaching and
general use, as it happened with Google Translate, Wikipedia, and the rest

32. A CfP in search of its collocation in a changing ICT world
• openness every ICT novelty that uses Esperanto is worth exploring per se
• uncertainness language-based ICTs are for Esperantists fascinating and a
threat at the same time
• ChatGPT-like bots are made fun of (Libera Folio) or analysed (Revuo
Esperanto)
• prognosis ChatGPT-like bots will be integrated in Esperanto teaching and
general use, as it happened with Google Translate, Wikipedia, and the rest
• take away message Esperanto is a laboratory of language
attitudes through AI novelties in an identity-based
international community

33. Thank You for Your Kind Attention! Any Questions?
Federico Gobbo (he/him | lui | li(n) | hij/hem)
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