When asked recently about Spain’s request to make Catalan, Basque and Galician official languages of the European Union, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz offered a confident answer: “I believe that even in the medium term there is a very good solution: one day, thanks to artificial intelligence, we will no longer need interpreters. We will be…
Category: AI
Why the Next Big Wave of Speech Innovation May Be Hyperlocal
In the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence, speech translation is often portrayed as a race already won by a handful of global titans. Meta, Google, Microsoft, Zoom, and a few others have built astonishing systems capable of turning speech from one language into another almost instantly. Around them, a constellation of specialized companies — KUDO,…
Reducing Latency in Simultaneous Machine Interpreting with LLMs
I have recently focused my efforts on a major pain point for users of simultaneous speech translation systems: latency. In real-world production environments, it’s not uncommon to see systems with a delay of 8, 10, or even 12 seconds or more, which makes for a frustrating and disjointed experience. The good news is that with…
Private by Design: Rethinking AI Interpreting Beyond the Cloud
In recent weeks, an interpreter made headlines. According to Le Monde, the European Commission dismissed an interpreter suspected of espionage on behalf of Moscow. The individual had reportedly taken notes (while not interpreting) during a high-level, closed-door meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in late 2024. The dismissal followed an internal investigation into the interpreter’s…
When Microsoft Ranked Us First — and It Wasn’t Good News
A few weeks ago, Microsoft released an interesting paper titled “Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI” ranking professions based on their alignment with the current capabilities of artificial intelligence. Of all the groups, translators and interpreters were the most aligned. The paper (or to be more precise the screenshot of one…
A Handbook for an Industry in Flux: Interpreting Meets the Age of AI
In recent years, interpreting has undergone a silent but profound transformation. What was once a firmly analog profession rooted in face-to-face communication has been increasingly shaped by digital tools, remote platforms, and — more recently — artificial intelligence. Back in 2018, I proposed the idea of a “technological turn” in interpreting, anticipating a period in…
If Quality Is Contextual, Then AI May Be Better Equipped Than We Think
As Director for Interpretation at the European Parliament, Alison Graves offers in this video thoughtful reflections on the evolving notion of quality in conference interpreting. In her presentation, focused on human interpretation, she moves away from rigid, perfectionist definitions and supposedly objective notions of quality, instead emphasizing the contextual, listener-centered nature of interpreting. Her arguments…
Is AI interpreting ready for prime time?
Over the last few years, AI interpreting has made a leap, from flashy demos to real-world products. Machines can now translate speech between languages, sometimes with impressive accuracy. But interpreting isn’t just about getting the words right. It’s about context, nuance, stakes. And that’s where things get tricky. So, how good is AI at interpreting…
Innovation, Not Automation, might be the Key to Shape the Future of the Language Industry
When we talk about the rise of AI in language services, the conversation too often gets stuck on automation. Most stakeholders, such as language service providers, scholars, and decision-makers, tend to view technology primarily as a tool to streamline existing tasks, making familiar processes faster, cheaper, or more efficient. But in my view, that’s the…
The Rise of AI and the Fall of the Gatekeeper
This article has been first published in Multilingual Magazine. For much of modern history, access to specialized knowledge has required one thing above all else: a professional. Whether it was legal advice, tax planning, language translation, or even medical consultation, the path to expertise ran through a narrow gate, guarded by individuals who possessed not…