Languages in the AI Age

This interactive, discussion-led event invites participants to explore how AI is reshaping multilingual communication, and to consider ramifications for the future of translation work and work more generally. Participants will engage directly with machine translation (MT) via camera-based translation apps, translating pre-prepared texts into English. The foreign-language texts for translation will include linguistic challenges such as humour, cultural references, and technical terminology, triggering common weaknesses in MT.

Attendees will assess the quality of the automated translations, reflect on the implications of relying on AI for communication across languages, and then compare the output with professional translations to consider the value that a human translator can add. The session will be accessible to all, regardless of language, and will include printed translations for those without smart devices. A professional translator will also attend to share their insights and answer questions, enriching the discussion with real-world expertise.

The event highlights how AI tools are transforming working lives – particularly in globalised areas such as healthcare, business, education, and research – and explores how practitioners have responded to change and learned to work hand-in-hand with new technologies. Participants will also consider wider ethical and social questions. Though MT is now regularly used across many workplaces as a fast, free, and often fruitful tool, what happens when machines get things wrong, particularly in high-stakes contexts, and what are the hidden ecological, economic, and human costs of our increasing dependence on (translation) technologies?

Dr Joseph Lambert, Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies, Cardiff University 

Adults and young people

The event will be of interest to anyone engaging with language and translation in professional or personal contexts.