CITS holds AI vs. Human Roundtable

On April 26, Associate Professor at the Department of English Philology, Linguodidactics and Translation, Director of CITS Uliana Saveleva held a round table discussion Translators’ and Interpreters’ Self-Identity in the Time of Rise of the Machines as part of the Translation & Interpretation Week. The discussion was moderated by Angelina Malova and Dmitry Marshalkin, who study at the Faculty of Foreign Languages and work for CITS.

Senior students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages of ASU and schoolchildren took part in the event. Among the topics discussed, there were the following issues: What is a modern translator and interpreter? What professional and soft skills should they have? Can AI think and feel? Can it tell lies?

During the discussion, the participants spoke on pros and cons of machine translation, its effect on translator’s and interpreter’s work and qualifications needed for successful work in the time of digitalization.

Despite its outstanding development, AI still cannot replace human in translation and interpretation. Machine translation often makes mistakes, disregards the context, and lacks creativity.

Nevertheless, MT technology is getting better and still can be useful for translators and interpreters, boosting their productivity and efficiency.

The roundtable participants concluded that the future of translation and interpretation is associated with mastering new technologies and developing critical thinking, creativity, intercultural communication and project management. Besides, T&I professionals should always be one step ahead of AI.

The students expressed great interest to the discussion. Thus, it confirms the relevance of AI and its effect on translation and interpretation.