Tag Archives: AI

AI and Interpreting: What You Need to Know

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This year at The Interpreter’s Lab, we’ve been digging deeper into AI, just as many others in the interpreting field have.

Interpreting in community and public service settings, whether in education, healthcare, or law enforcement, is uniquely complex. It’s not only about managing dynamic, interpersonal communication but also about working across many languages and navigating truly localized knowledge. Accuracy matters profoundly when people’s health, safety, or liberty are on the line. That means community interpreters must approach AI with caution.

Still, when used wisely, these tools can serve a valuable purpose.

“AI is not here to replace interpreters – and won’t be for the foreseeable future.”

From note-taking apps to terminology management, there are countless AI tools that can support interpreters before and after assignments. But when it comes to community interpreting, things get more complicated. Unlike conference interpreters who may work with teams, booths, and on-site technology support, community interpreters often work alone. They are expected to respond in the moment with critical decision-making skills rooted in professional confidence and ethical understanding. Confidentiality and client privacy are central, meaning that pulling out a phone or laptop mid-session to run an AI tool usually isn’t an option.

This doesn’t mean AI is off the table. As we learned recently at the August session of The Interpreter’s Lab Speakers Series Professional Development with Evelyn Cervantes, there are creative and ethical ways to bring AI into your professional toolkit.

Practical Ways Interpreters Working in Community and Public Sector Services Can Use AI

  1. Pre-Session Preparation
    AI tools can help interpreters research terminology, generate practice scenarios, or organize glossaries before an assignment. Some tools even allow you to upload documents or background material (with privacy considerations in mind) to get a clear sense of key concepts.
  2. Post-Session Reflection
    After assignments, AI can support with debriefing and self-study. Summarization tools, for instance, can help you review notes and identify areas where additional terminology practice is needed. As any good interpreter knows, a reflective practice is a professional practice.
  3. Practice Management
    No matter how powerful the tool, the responsibility for managing and organizing your practice remains yours. AI can generate resources, but it won’t tell you how to structure your files, prioritize your workload, or balance your commitments. That’s where your professional judgment comes in.

What to Watch Out For:
AI isn’t perfect, and interpreters need to approach it critically:

  • Accuracy and Reliability: Just because AI provides a reference doesn’t mean it’s correct, or even real. Always verify.
  • Privacy Concerns: Free versions of tools may not protect your data. Be cautious about uploading sensitive materials, especially anything linked to client information.
  • Free vs. Paid Subscriptions: Paid tools often provide better security, features, and accuracy. But even then, due diligence is essential.

Why This Matters
AI is not here to replace interpreters – and won’t be for the foreseeable future.  Instead, it can complement our skills and make us more efficient, better prepared, and more reflective practitioners, if used wisely. In community interpreting, where confidentiality, ethics, and quick thinking are paramount, the key is knowing when and how to integrate these tools without compromising professional standards.

As AI continues to evolve, so too will the conversations about how interpreters can, and should, engage with it. At The Interpreter’s Lab, we believe that staying informed and critically reflective is part of what makes a strong professional community. That’s why our monthly Pro-D sessions don’t just introduce tools, but also create space to explore the ethical, practical, and real-world implications for community interpreters – technology is only as useful as the ethical framework we bring to it.

AI isn’t a replacement for professional skill, judgment, or standards, but it can be a supportive ally when approached wisely. We invite you to join us as we continue to explore these questions together.

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Progress or Perish: In a World of Constant Change, Shouldn’t Education Keep Up?

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Dr. Claudio Fantinuoli recently argued in an article for the Chartered Institute of Linguists that translation and interpreting education must evolve or risk becoming irrelevant—a point I’ve been making for years. While his focus is likely on conference interpreting curricula and simultaneous mode training, the same—or even greater—urgency applies to community and public-service interpreting, whether simultaneous, consecutive, remote, or in-person.

“It should be quite clear that if we continue along the current trajectory of absence of relevant change, we risk drifting into irrelevance—and this could happen sooner than expected.”

Interpreter Training Must Keep Pace

Public service and community interpreter training in Canada can be traced back to the 1970s, when one of the country’s most robust programs launched in Vancouver, British Columbia. Although other programs followed over the years, most ceased updating their content by the early 2010s. Since then, the profession’s demands, core competencies, ethical guidelines, and standards of practice have shifted dramatically. It’s understandable that many institution-based programs lack the flexibility to adapt—perhaps explaining their decline or demise—but remaining anchored in outdated theories and practices renders their course content irrelevant, and that’s before even considering the profound impact of AI and other emerging technologies.

When curricula ignore modern tools, platforms, and workflows, interpreters miss the chance to learn how to use these innovations effectively—and are left unable to discuss them knowledgeably with clients, further widening the gap between practice and consumer needs.
Of course, a firm grounding in the profession’s foundations—its ethics, principles, and theoretical frameworks—is essential. But training must also meet the expectations of the 21st-century marketplace, equipping students to handle contemporary challenges from day one.

Interpreter Education Through a Real-World Lens

That forward-looking perspective motivated me to spearhead ISO TS 6253:2024, Requirements and recommendations for training programmes in community interpreting. This first ISO publication to address interpreter training in specialized settings marks a significant milestone in the evolution of public-service language services—one I was proud to champion and privileged to lead as project head of the international working group. And because progress is essential to sustain relevance in both education and standards, we’re already revisiting the specification to make it even more accessible and aligned with today’s needs.

Progress Means Letting Go

We need to let go of outdated paradigms and frameworks so that the essential role of interpreting—and interpreters themselves—is genuinely understood and valued. Interpreter education must be dynamic, responsive, and grounded in best ethical practices. Anything less does a disservice to our students and to the broader field of community interpreting. Training programs must be agile and innovative, actively engaging with the marketplace. Change may be difficult, but irrelevance is far worse.

“Let’s not ever forget that amid these challenges lie opportunities. Beyond boldly reforming existing structures – which is admittedly difficult –there is also the possibility of creating something entirely new. Perhaps a new type of institution is needed – one that anticipates future changes rather than merely reacts to them.”

End Note:
I would like to thank Dr. Fantuoli’s for his contributions to our understanding, and I encourage you to read his particular article (linked below) as many very good and insightful points are made.
All quoted content – Claudio Fantinuoli PhD in CIOL (Chartered Institute of Linguists)
https://www.ciol.org.uk/future-translation-interpreting-training?utm_source=pocket_shared