Addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by AI.
Plenary Presenter: Dr. Maartje De Meulder (Belgium), Senior researcher on challenges facing deaf communities, and on ethics in the development and use of AI-driven (sign) language technologies
At the first day of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Conference 2025, Dr. Maartje De Meulder, a leading scholar and currently senior researcher at HU – University of Applied Sciences Utrecht in the Netherlands on sign language policy and technology, facilitated an interactive workshop titled “Sign Language AI: What’s Happening, What It Means, and What We Can Do”.
The keynote presentation and workshop aimed to examine the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence and sign languages by looking at how these technologies are developed, marketed, and deployed – including what they mean for the future of communication access and deaf rights.
Dr de Meulder structured her presentation around three key goals:
Awareness: Understanding current situation of research and development in sign language AI, critical thinking: how to assess promises and risks of AI and sign languages, and lastly how to take action – Equipping participants to take informed steps within their own organisations and communities.
Dr. De Meulder explained that AI systems “learn” patterns from large datasets, but do not truly understand language. Human decisions about data selection and training methods can embed bias into the technology.
The workshop left attendants with a checklist of critical questions for evaluating any sign language AI project, from data ownership and community involvement to transparency and real-world performance. Deaf communities must be informed and be at the table of current discussions on AI and sign languages to ensure these AI truly serves us, not define our language use.
