In a world where all language is data that can be stored, monitored, and controlled, The Future of Language explores the impact this will have on how we communicate.

Will language as we know it cease to exist? What could this mean for the way we live our lives?

Shining a light on the technology currently being developed to revolutionise communication, The Future of Language distinguishes myth from reality and superstition from scientifically-based prediction as it plots out the importance of language and raises questions about its future.

From the rise of artificial intelligence and speaking robots, to brain implants and
computer-facilitated telepathy, language and communications expert Philip Seargeant surveys the development of new digital ‘languages’, such as emojis, animated gifs and memes, and investigates how conventions of spoken and written language are being modified by new trends in communication.

From George Orwell’s fictional predictions in Nineteen Eighty-Four to the very real warnings of climate activist Greta Thunberg, Seargeant explores language through time, traversing politics, religion, philosophy, literature, and of course technology, in the process. Tracing how previous eras have imagined the future of language, from the Bible to the works H. G. Wells, and from Star Wars to Star Trek, the book reveals how perfecting language and communication has always been a vital component of utopian dreams of the future.

Questioning the potential ramifications of recent and future developments in communication on society and its ideals, The Future of Language is a no holds barred investigation into the state of civilisation and the impact that changes in language could have on our lives.

"You leave this book … with a renewed belief in language as “inherently creative”, offering what Noam Chomsky called "infinite expression by finite means”, and still our best way of expressing the sensory infinitude of being alive." - New Statesman

"In his scholarly, must-read book, Seargeant makes us think about the underpinnings of these convenient tools and what they portend for language, one of the cornerstones of human identity." - New Scientist

"Seargeant asks what might be around the corner for language as new technologies keep coming. His wide-ranging survey considers impacts that include social media and generative AI. Each is part of a larger pattern of disruption in the ecology of language use." - Times Literary Supplement

"This book is a seminal contribution to the field, challenging existing paradigms and offering new lenses through which to view the ongoing evolution of language. It pushes the boundaries of how we conceive communication in an increasingly interconnected world. It also urges future research into AI-driven language transformations and the sociopolitical impacts on global communication." - Journal of Language and Politics