Celebrating International Translation Day in the Age of AI

International Translation Day, established by the International Federation of Translators (IFIT) in 1953, is celebrated every September 30th. This holiday recognizes the vital social contributions and work of language professionals worldwide. The language services field includes professional translators, interpreters, localization specialists, proofreaders, narrative designers, voiceover actors, and other language services experts. As a language services company, our global community’s professional translation services and interpretation services are critical. We value our community partners every day and in every project, whether or not we use generative AI translation. These are just a few reasons we’re honoring translators, interpreters, and other language professionals on International Translation Day.

Reason #1: Human Translation Brings Nuance and Industry-specific Knowledge

Supporting our customers means celebrating our language specialists’ expertise. AI tools are being trained and learning more every day. However, they can’t possess the qualities of a human professional translator, interpreter, subject matter expert (SME), etc. Humans bring vital assets to the projects they work on at every stage:

• Industry expertise
• Life experience
• Creativity
• Cultural familiarity
• Deep linguistic experience

These professionals are an irreplaceable element of many solutions — solutions that may also include AI tools. Additionally, some verticals, such as law or life sciences, frequently require a human translator in the process. This requirement is due to the technical, regulated nature of those industries.

Reason #2: The Human Touch Contributes Diversity

AI tools are being trained every day, but they may never be able to encompass the spectrum of human diversity in:

• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Language
• Location
• Life experience
• Culture
• Religion
• Ability/disability
• Age
• More

A language professional ensures a project is completed with a sensitivity that AI alone can’t provide. To ensure content is never harmful, biased, or hateful, it’s vital to continue celebrating the role of the human translator, interpreter, reviewer, and other language experts.

Reason #3: Human Translators Are Our Most Valuable Asset

AI is an exciting tool, but it’s merely that: a tool. We use AI to amplify one translator’s work, or perhaps coordinate projects with a sizeable group of interpreters, etc. Our most valued asset is our network of people: translators, interpreters, desktop publishers, multimedia partners, reviewers, game testers, and other language experts. They could be crucial in any step of the process:

• Conducting AI training
• Reviewing an AI translation
• Checking a translation sample
• Building a library of Translation Memories (TMs)
• More

Our AI training services, powered by Aurora AI Studio™, provide a diverse global community and proven technology. We use the platform to help customers access a diverse, worldwide network of translators. With Aurora AI Studio, one project could be tested or translated by hundreds of people worldwide within days. Our AI tool is a vehicle to help our trusted human language specialists complete a project within specified deadlines.

Another example is when one of our linguists uses AI to assist them in quickly translating multiple or voluminous amounts of content. Here again, the AI system is a dynamic, exciting tool. Nevertheless, it’s the human who completes the work.

Get In Touch

Lionbridge recognizes and thanks our network of translators, interpreters, multimedia partners, desktop publishers, and other language specialists on International Translation Day—and every other day of the year. We focus on custom-tailoring the best solution for every project. This process frequently involves the irreplaceable touch of a human at some level, whether in combination with AI tools or not.

Interested in joining our network of language specialists? Check our careers page.