Artificial Intelligence – An Ally or a Foe of Foreign Language Teaching?

The rise of technological advancements and the extensive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in many domains of activity nowadays have triggered a paradigm shift in the educational field which seems to be facing multiple challenges in order to adapt to the newly emerged needs of a highly digitalized society. Online education has become a “revolution en masse” (Nikon, 2023) providing a fertile ground for a seamless blend between Artificial Intelligence and language studying. Foreign language trainers have become aware of the benefits of this transformational process and have been trying to take advantage of the new opportunities by implementing them into the educational process and tailoring them to the real needs of the learners. While AI has been constantly acclaimed for its potential to improve learning outcomes, there are voices who contend against its use, stating that the negative implications outweigh by far the benefits. This papers aims at analysing the advantages and disadvantages of an AI-powered teaching-learning process and at highlighting specific applicability when it comes to foreign languages.