At the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the 19th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions is taking place. Quebec’s Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, is present to call for strengthening the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Cultural Expression Diversity. This meeting is crucial for the survival of various French languages within the francophone digital space. In the era of a globalized internet and generative artificial intelligence, it is imperative to ensure that French in all its diversity is present and used, as explained by Mathieu Lacombe:
“We want artificial intelligence to be as intelligent in French as it is in English. This is somewhat challenging because AI feeds on what is present on the Internet, which is often English content. AI is currently much more geared towards thinking in English. And when it gives us answers in French, it is often a kind of translation of Anglophone cultural codes, which are transposed into French, even though we have completely different cultures. Therefore, the brain must be nourished with Francophone data, data that reflects our cultures.”
The day’s highlights:
– The Effractions Festival at the Gaîté Lyrique in Paris starts on Wednesday, February 18th: This festival dedicated to contemporary literature, spanning five days, offers encounters with around forty authors. It is an opportunity to explore the links between reality and fiction and to question their relationship with current events and how they influence their work. Expected guests for this 7th edition include Natacha Appanah, Constance Debré, Laurent Mauvignier, and Marie-Hélène Lafon.
Find the complete program of this event here.
