The fast-acting changes of artificial intelligence result in making the impossible seem commonplace. A few taps on a phone create flawless French, perfect Mandarin, or pristine Spanish sentences. Google Translate and ChatGPT do decoding and accents, and the essay! They even reproduce accents! At first glance, such technology makes traditional language proficiency tests appear redundant. Yet International English Language Testing System (IELTS) remains not just relevant but essential in today’s world. The difference lies in the skills assessed by the assessment—skills that cannot be replicated by technology.

Language is more than vocabulary and grammar, but involves listening in context, formulating ideas, persuading, disagreeing politely, and responding to pressures. AI can translate words, but it does not teach the student how to hear, respond to, and follow a lecture by a professor or a seminar discussion, nor how to defend a research argument in English. IELTS simulates these real-world cases. A speaking test with a trained examiner is not a computerised exchange—it has the dynamics of everyday communication and considers other factors such as tone, clarity, and spontaneity.

This is an important point to make for students. A graduate about to enter a university in Canada or the UK cannot simply employ an app for every group project or presentation. Canadian and British universities expect students to be able to work independently in an academic context, and IELTS has an established standard of whether they are ready or not. Writing tasks indicate to candidates the necessity to construct logical arguments and to express ideas in a clear format under pressure. The listening component ensures they can process lectures delivered in different accents. The speaking test evaluates confidence, fluency, and adaptability. These are academic survival skills that no software can substitute.

The workplace places similar demands. Professions appreciate efficiency. However, employers want ‘people’ professionals who can demonstrate communication without technological crutches and are fluent in real time, explaining designs as an engineer, explaining to a patient as a doctor, or presenting to an international client as a consultant. IELTS scores reassure employers that candidates can deliver independently. In a global economy where communication drives collaboration, this independence matters even more.

Language difference is culturally specific and highlights the value of IELTS. Although machine learning is advancing quickly, AI tools fail in terms of idioms, humour, and nuanced, culturally embedded language; for example, ‘cut corners’ can be literally translated, but the nature of the idiom is lost. IELTS assesses whether the candidate understands and uses language in the way it is most conventionally used in normal communication. If migrants and students use and/or take on the conventional (variation in language use), the process of cultural integration will occur seamlessly. No algorithm can ensure that.

Trust is yet another dimension of IELTS that will not be replaced. Trust that government and immigration authorities are not relying on machine-produced translations (and don’t forget, these machine productions vary across sites and platforms). Government and immigration authorities need a standardised assessment that is secure, free from bias, and verifiable (and reproducible by an external authority).

IELTS provides precisely that assurance.

For over 30 years, it has been regarded as the ‘gold standard’ for migration, higher education, and professional opportunities. Its stability and reliability provide inherently valuable trust in global mobility services.

Even in preparing for IELTS, candidates have lifelong results. The candidate effectively creates habits that can last well beyond the test time with skills in time management, thinking in structured ways, reading for focus, and remaining calm under interview pressure.

Many learners later say that their IELTS preparation improved not only their English but also their overall academic and professional capabilities. IELTS has value in the skills that it builds as much as in the certificate that it issues.

IELTS and AI are not competitors. AI tools may assist with preparation by providing students with practice with pronunciation, enhancing vocabulary, and simulating listening practice.

They may also make practice easier, faster, and more accessible. Still, the final examination of communication is a human trait, and IELTS ensures that candidates can demonstrate their human ability without relying on any digital help. The advancement in translation technology has changed the landscape of convenience, yet human communication cannot be offshored. Universities, employers, and governments want people who are able to think, join, and persuade in real time. IELTS still offers a trusted distinction between passive technology users and active members of a global community. Thus, the exam is not just relevant but more valuable than ever in an increasingly AI world.

(The author is CEO & Counsellor, AAera Consultants)