On Wednesday, December 10th, 2025, Keluarga Mahasiswa Linguistik Universitas Gadjah Mada (Kalingga) successfully hosted its final project at the end of 2025, a lively book review titled “Language in the Shadow of Technology.” Reviewed by Cicik Tri Jayanti, S.Pd., M.A., and Amon Bernabas Tenis, S.Pd., the book presents the writings of linguistic students and lecturers on contemporary language issues. The book encompasses major topics on the involvement of technology, such as social media or Artificial Intelligence (AI), within the use of language in the modern day, the use of indigenous language, and translation settings.
Located on the second floor of the Universitas Gadjah Mada Library, the discussion opens with a personal reflection on children’s cartoon narratives by Cicik Tri Jayanti, S.Pd., M.A., which spontaneously invites a burst of laughter from the audience. She further states that “a story” of a personal experience is a marker that differentiates human work and AI work.
Through her experience and observation, Cicik Tri Jayanti, S.Pd., M.A. found that there is an apparent and noticeable pattern in a large language model (LLM) that constantly needs evaluation. From the use of limited contradictory conjunctions to the unfocused organization of ideas, she highlights the imperfection and lack of authenticity of LLM. Therefore, she invites students to proactively employ AI as a research assistant rather than the main vehicle to conduct research: “Instead of using AI extensively, we should be better at managing our time.”
Comprising valuable exploration in empirical language, Cicik Tri Jayanti, S.Pd., M.A., describes reading the book as a tour to authentic data. She further suggests some improvements in the author guidelines to harmonize the topical ideas. As the head of this book review project, Amon Bernabas Tenis, S.Pd., also shares an interesting story of the book’s behind-the-scenes from August 2025, from the preparation to book socialization. He is grateful that the book received a warm response from the campus community. “Words rooted in sincerity will always connect and resonate with the reader’s own experiences,” he concluded.