🤖💥 AI is racing forward… but can it truly understand ASL?

I recently watched a powerful video by the CODA brothers signing in ASL. I can’t share the video directly, but it left me thinking deeply about how AI interacts with sign languages.

Here's the reality: AI is not ready for ASL.

Facial expressions and body language are crucial in ASL - they’re not just "extra," they carry grammar and emotion. Even your nose, eyebrows, eye gaze, mouth shapes, and shoulder movement add layers of meaning, just like an actor's expression in a movie can surprise, move, or shock us. ASL isn’t just communication, it’s visual storytelling.

Name signs, regional signs, and classifiers are often unique to the Deaf experience and very difficult for AI to decode. Fingerspelling often gets misread. One word in English may have many ASL variants, depending on age, region, or context.

AI today can create realistic voiceovers and simplify complex English into plain language, which some Deaf professionals find helpful, especially when dealing with jargon-heavy documents or unclear captions. AI subtitles can also help those who rely on text support to follow spoken content.

But only if the accuracy is 98% or higher. If it’s not accurate, it’s not access. No one wants to guess what’s being said when the stakes are high. High standards must apply to accessibility, too.

And yes, in situations like delayed payments, appointment scheduling, or basic instructions, AI can help speed things up.

But let’s be absolutely clear:AI is not ready for full communication, cultural context, or critical interpretation.

We must not rely on AI in areas like:

• 🏥 Healthcare – where miscommunication can be life-threatening

• ⚖️ Justice – where rights, safety, and truth are at stake

• 🎓 Education – where Deaf students deserve real human connection and full access

  
  

In 1880, at the Milan Conference (ICED), sign languages were banned from classrooms, and Deaf teachers lost their jobs. That historic injustice tried to erase Deaf culture and language. Now, in the digital age, will we allow a new kind of "Digital Milan" - where AI replaces human interpreters and again pushes Deaf people to the margins?

VRS (Video Relay Service) continues to succeed because of high-quality video, where Deaf users and interpreters can truly see each other. Every subtle facial cue, movement, and expression can be understood. This level of human connection is something AI just can’t replicate - yet.

I understand the global push for AI. But we must ask: AI for whom? And built by whom?

Imagine a website where every word or icon is touchable, and a signer video appears to explain it in ASL or BSL, bringing full access to Deaf users in their native language. No guessing. No clunky AI. Just a clear, beautiful, human sign language that meets the user where they are.

Let AI handle basic English. Let humans handle human language.

👋 To the Deaf community: keep signing, keep creating, keep teaching. Your language is irreplaceable.

#DeafCommunity #ASL #BSL #Accessibility #AIethics #InclusiveDesign #LanguageJustice #DeafHistory #DigitalMilan #DeafTech #HumanRights #ICED1880