Lingua Ex Machina 2.0: The Theological Origins and Destinations of Machine Translation

The story of the “Tower of Babel” (Genesis 11:1–9) provides an account of the plurality of languages as issued from an original and apparently universal tongue. This mythic loss of an original, linguistic universality as well as subsequent attempts to reestablish it by overcoming the confusio linguarum by way of automatic translation techniques and technologies already constitute a kind of universal idiom. According to Umberto Eco (1995, 1), “the story of the confusion of tongues, and of the attempt to redeem its loss through the rediscovery or invention of a language common to all humanity, can be found in every culture.” And it is the digital computer that provides the most recent iteration of this supposedly universal endeavor. This chapter investigates the Babelian legacy and logic circulating through the systems and networks of digital technology. It traces the origin and purpose of the desire for universal understandability, locates the digital computer within this tradition, and examines the underlying values and consequences of this undertaking.