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Especially in the West, erudition is inextricably linked with translation, in the largest sense of the term, as it was defined in the Middle Ages: as involving both a transfer of knowledge (translatio studii) and a transfer of power (translatio imperii). As the world becomes increasingly de-Westernized, translation – and, consequently, erudition – has a role that is ever more central and is only reinforced by new information and communication technology (ICT) or the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). No machine, no matter how sophisticated, will ever supplant “human” erudition; technique is always only a means, and never an end in itself.