In 2019, Australians spoke an average of 338 fewer words each day than they did in 2005. An oral historian says the decline may signal a loss of listening ability. AI tools and chatbots promise faster responses and so-called “empathetic” listening, but the article doesn’t establish that technology caused the drop in spoken words.
The decrease amounted to “a staggering loss of 120,000 spoken words per person, compared with the year before,” the writer said. “Language is culture. It tells us who we are.”
What the archive holds
From 2018 to early 2024, the writer led a team at the National Library of Australia responsible for what the article describes as the largest oral history collection in the southern hemisphere. Founded in 1957, the collection contains more than 58,000 hours of recordings. People can access much of it online through Trove.
The collection includes First Nations Australians speaking about deep history and sharing first-person memories reaching back into the 19th century. It also preserves testimonies from First Nations Australians who were part of the Stolen Generations, as well as accounts of the 1891 Queensland shearers’ strikes and the conscription debates of the first world war.
The writer said they’d listened to thousands of Australians from different eras, places and backgrounds. One is Dame Mary Gilmore, born in 1865, speaking about tallow candles and life before electricity. An Australian prime minister recalls winning election after their party spent 23 years in opposition. A mother describes seeking refuge in Australia after crossing pirate-infested seas following the Vietnam war.
One recording features a pioneer stationed in Antarctica reflecting on distance. The next voice, the writer said, might be Dr Ella Stack, a Darwin doctor who survived Cyclone Tracy, stayed to help, recorded survivors’ memories and later ensured Darwin was rebuilt as mayor.
Listening across generations
These recordings preserve past Australian accents, words no longer spoken and accounts of professions that no longer exist. The writer said humorous memories also fill the collection, and some made them cry with laughter.
More recently, the writer listened to hundreds more hours of the archive while working on a book and accompanying podcast. The recordings, they said, connect people separated by a century or more, and by different backgrounds and experiences, through shared accounts of love, loss, change, challenge, joy and resilience.
The limits of simulated listening
Listening to people with diverse perspectives can improve mental and physical wellbeing, support information exchange, grow understanding, spark ideas and build empathy, the writer said. “Empathy is the richest gift listening offers,” they said. “That’ll be our greatest loss if we speak and hear less.”
The writer contrasted listening with instant gratification and artificial agreement. It lets people engage with others’ experiences, become more patient, appreciate difference and disagree without being unnecessarily destructive. AI chatbots promise speed and so-called empathetic listening, but the article sets that promise against the archive’s recorded voices and the reported decline in daily speech without claiming AI has measurably affected listening or speech.
“These voices from the past can resonate as powerfully as ever in our present,” the writer said.