logo image
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • Design Thinking – February 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs
MENU
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • Design Thinking – February 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs

Advertise on Slator! Download the 2021 Online Media Kit Now

  • Slator Market Intelligence
  • Slator Advertising Services
  • Slator Advisory
  • Login
Search
Generic filters
Exact matches only
Advertisement
Third Revolution in Language Is Upon Us and Will Impact Translators, Interpreters — EU

2 years ago

June 27, 2019

Third Revolution in Language Is Upon Us and Will Impact Translators, Interpreters — EU

Technology ·

by Esther Bond

On June 27, 2019

2 years ago
Technology ·

by Esther Bond

On June 27, 2019

Third Revolution in Language Is Upon Us and Will Impact Translators, Interpreters — EU

First launched in the 1970s, the International Annual Meeting on Language Arrangements, Documentation and Publications (IAMLADP) brings together users of conference and language services from around the globe. Its network of members comprises delegates from the EU, the UN, NATO, and the African Development Bank, among others.

In preparation for this year’s event, which was hosted by EU institutions in Brussels, Belgium from May 27–29, 2019, the host institutions authored a paper dated April 29, 2019 and entitled “New Technologies and Artificial Intelligence in the field of language and conference services.”

The paper, presented by the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, and the Court of Justice of the European Union, examines the current state of language technologies (LTs) and AI and their use within the EU’s translation, interpretation, and conference services. It also highlights the added value of LTs and AI and identifies potential barriers to their wider implementation.

Advertisement

Slator 2020 Language Industry Market Report

Data and Research, Slator reports
55 pages. Total market size, biz dev and sales insights, TMS & MT review, buyer segment analysis, M&A, Covid impact & outlook.
$480 BUY NOW

LTs and AI have had a “transformative effect” on language services, the paper said, achieved by enabling greater automation of tasks. Although productivity tools (CAT) have long been the de facto standard and are deeply ingrained in language production, “the future smarter CAT environment is yet to be developed,” according to the EU host paper. Tools can be lacking in user friendlessness (UX) and many do not integrate sufficiently with terminology, MT, workflow, and CMS systems.

“The future smarter CAT environment is yet to be developed.”

Machine translation, and NMT in particular, has become “an integral part of a linguist’s toolbox” in recent years, according to the paper. The paradigm shift achieved by NMT is a result of its ability to produce better quality and more fluent translation output.

Slator 2019 Neural Machine Translation Report: Deploying NMT in Operations

Data and Research
32 pages, NMT state-of-the-art, 5 case studies, 30 commentaries, NMT in day-to-day operations
$85 BUY NOW

Right now, “most EU translation services have integrated eTranslation in their pre-processing arrangements and provide NMT output to their linguists.” eTranslation, the EU’s MT service, is based on more than one billion sentences from the EU’s Euramis translation memories, which exist in all of the EU’s 24 official languages.

“Most EU translation services have integrated eTranslation in their pre-processing arrangements and provide NMT output to their linguists.”

Outside of translation, the application of LTs and AI within conference interpretation is still limited, however, and restricted to assisting with discrete tasks such as meeting preparation and key term prompts.

The paper also highlights the use of LTs and AI in the areas of terminology management, speech recognition, and conference management; for instance, in helping meet the challenge of programming “up to 1,000 interpreters’ assignments for an average of 40 meetings a day.”

Slator RFP Service - Request for Proposal

RFP Center

Business Development, Market Intelligence
Receive daily email alerts of tenders and RFPs issued by governments, NGOs and private entities from across the world.
BUY NOW

There are several hurdles that will need to be overcome for LTs and AI to become even more useful in language production, the EU paper stated. Among them are the management challenge of helping alleviate fear and uncertainty around what these technologies mean for jobs; the current absence of well curated data for training; and the notion that a linguist’s translation and language skills could possibly degrade once they are no longer responsible for the production of a translation.

Along with the increased use of language technologies and AI, there is a clear benefit for language professionals, since, as the paper posits, “LTs and AI ideally take over the mundane part of language professionals’ work, making it possible for them to spend more time on the creative aspects.”

“LTs and AI ideally take over the mundane part of language professionals’ work.”

The EU, for one, is driving a number of operational developments to adapt to the shifting landscape. They created the role of Language Technology Coordinator in 2018 across all 24 EU languages, and have also set up an AI incubator, a CAT Network, and a CAT Helpline, which comprises a “group of translators and translation assistants who voluntarily provide peer-to-peer support across all language units, in collaboration with the IT Helpline and using the IT department’s issue tracking system to manage support requests.”

The paper underscored the EU’s commitment to LTs and AI, and goes as far as calling them “the third revolution as far as human language is concerned, after the creation of the alphabet and writing and then the invention of printing.”

TAGS

AIartificial intelligenceconference InterpretingeTranslationEUEuropean UnionLanguage technologiesmachine translationMTNATOneural machine translationNMTspeech recognitionterminologytranslation memoryUN
SHARE
Esther Bond

By Esther Bond

Research Director at Slator. Localization enthusiast, linguist and inquisitor. London native.

Advertisement

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SLATOR WEEKLY

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

SUBSCRIBE

SlatorSweepSlatorPro
ResearchRFP CENTER

PUBLISH

PRESS RELEASEDIRECTORY LISTING
JOB ADEVENT LISTING

Bespoke advisory including speaking, briefings and M&A

SLATOR ADVISORY
Advertisement

Featured Reports

See all
Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

by Slator

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

by Slator

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

by Slator

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

by Slator

Press Releases

See all
Across Systems will be part of the Volaris Group

Across Systems will be part of the Volaris Group

by Across Systems GmbH

How Localex Made It Through the Pandemic

How Localex Made It Through the Pandemic

by Localex

Join Us for the First Virtual Together 2021 Next Month!

Join Us for the First Virtual Together 2021 Next Month!

by Elia

Upcoming Events

See All
  1. Handling Sensitive Information Webinar

    Handling Sensitive Calls with Limited English Proficient Consumers

    by Lionbridge

    · February 10

    Learn more about how Lionbridge Over-the-Phone Interpretation Services can help bridge communication gaps with limited...

    More info FREE

Featured Companies

See all
Text United

Text United

Memsource

Memsource

Wordbank

Wordbank

Protranslating

Protranslating

Seprotec

Seprotec

Versacom

Versacom

SDL

SDL

Smartling

Smartling

Lingotek

Lingotek

XTM International

XTM International

Smartcat

Smartcat

Translators without Borders

Translators without Borders

STAR Group

STAR Group

memoQ Translation Technologies

memoQ Translation Technologies

Advertisement

Popular articles

Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

by Esther Bond

Top Language Industry Quotes of 2020

Top Language Industry Quotes of 2020

by Monica Jamieson

The Slator 2020 Language Service Provider Index

The Slator 2020 Language Service Provider Index

by Slator

SlatorPod: The Weekly Language Industry Podcast

connect with us

footer logo

Slator makes business sense of the language services and technology market.

Our Company

  • Support
  • About us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to the Slator Weekly

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

© 2021 Slator. All rights reserved.

Sign up to the Slator Weekly

Join over 13,000 subscribers and get the latest language industry intelligence every Friday

Your information will never be shared with third parties. No Spam.