The future of the humanities is inextricably linked with high technology. To put textbook theory into practice, a group of students majoring in Digital Linguistics at the Belarusian State University of Foreign Languages ​​(BSUIR) visited the United Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (UIIP NAS Belarus). This introductory experience served as the future specialists' first step into a world where linguistic knowledge meets artificial intelligence.

During the tour, the students were introduced to the institute's cutting-edge developments, which bridge several disciplines. Of particular interest were the projects of the Speech Recognition and Synthesis Laboratory and the Robotic Systems Laboratory. The students were shown how fundamental research in phonetics, morphology, and semantics is applied to the creation of complex technological products—from voice assistants to autonomous robots.

Leading laboratory staff spoke about their research and current projects: 

• Andrey Bondolovsky, Head of the Speech Recognition and Synthesis Laboratory;
• Dmitry Lyakhov, Senior Researcher in the same laboratory;
• Tatyana Kim, Junior Researcher in the Robotic Systems Laboratory;
• Evgeny Lopatko, Researcher in the Robotic Systems Laboratory.

They shared with the guests not only their successes but also the challenges facing developers in creating systems capable of understanding and generating human speech or interacting with the outside world.

The students were greatly impressed by the developments they saw. In an era when artificial intelligence and IT are at the peak of demand, the opportunity to see the real-world application of their future profession resonated strongly. Many students noted that this tour reinforced their desire to pursue a career in this dynamically developing field after graduation.

The meeting was a shining example of effective collaboration between academic science and education. The staff of the Joint Institute for Information Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus wished the students success in their studies and expressed hope to see them again soon within the institute's walls—this time as young scientists and colleagues ready to contribute to the development of digital linguistics in Belarus.