Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Constraints: A Working Memory Approach to Adult L2 Speech Perception

The vast growth and advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) have significantly reshaped most of our daily life activities including education among the adults. Suggesting that AI can overcome the age-related limitations among adult learners in language learning. AI-based systems offer enhanced input and instant outcome leading to the assumption that limitations linked to Critical Period Hypothesis may be reduced or overcome. However, they might overlook the role of cognitive constraints that fundamentally shape human language processing. This paper discusses that adult second languages (L2) remain inherently cognitively constrained with working memory functioning as a central mechanism governing the other components. Humans are subject to cognitive and attention constraints which affect the perceptual performance unlike AI systems. As a result, advancement in technological input do not necessarily translate into additional gains in perceptual accuracy or efficiency. Building on this idea, the paper proposes a theoretical framework in which AI is conceptualized as an adaptive while working memory acts as an internal processing constraint. By foregrounding working memory as a core component in adult L2 speech perception, this paper contributes to a more cognitively grounded account of language processing in the digital age, with the perspectives of linguistic and AI among adult learners of second language.

Artificial intelligence (AI), working memory, speech perception

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