Linguists use artificial languages to explore how people learn languages

Linguists are using artificial languages with unique grammatical rules to study how people learn languages. Recent research shows that language models struggle more with these "impossible" languages than with regular ones, challenging previous claims that they learn equally well. In 2023, Noam Chomsky argued that language models could master impossible languages, making them irrelevant to linguistics. However, a new study found that modern language models have difficulty with these languages, suggesting they may still provide insights into human language learning. This research marks a shift in understanding language models' capabilities. It indicates that they may not learn languages in the same way humans do, prompting further investigation into the nature of language acquisition.