This essay for the inaugural issue of Technology and Language builds on the observation that both humans and animals have a communication system but only humans are multilingual. Likewise, humans and animals use tools but only humans develop technology. The multilingual and technological conditions of humankind are undergoing profound transformations in the age of globalization and under pressure of a pandemic. Since these transformations implicate human languages and technologies in tandem, it is important to study them in tandem as well.