Farewell to Hugo

By Felix Ordeig, Aib 

Our dear friend and colleague Hugo POOLEY passed away on May 24th, leaving all of us in AIB grieving and with a deep sense of loss. Hugo was a founder member of our group of interpreters in Barcelona, and contributed with enthusiasm, generosity and hard work to the development and strengthening of AIB over the last 25 years. His unbeatable sense of humour and light touch helped weather difficult moments and defuse tensions. He was a true free spirit, with a never ending intellectual curiosity and a genuine fascination for language, which showed through in his love of our profession, in which he excelled and held himself to exacting standards.

We would like to republish a very enjoyable and interesting post of his from 2021, INTERPRETERS IN LITERATURE, where his erudition, literary passion and a wonderful way with words shine through. Rereading it is one way to attempt to lighten our heavy hearts.

Que la tierra te sea leve, estimadísimo amigo y compañero.

 

By Hugo Pooley, Aib

Reading Antonio Muñoz Molina's magnificent early - 1991 - novel “El Jinete Polaco” recently prompted me to undertake a modest, non-exhaustive, survey of novels involving interpreters and perhaps share a few musings on how realistic, or not, their treatment has been.

As most of our readers will know, the distinction between translators and interpreters is that the former work in writing and the latter orally; but in practice interpreters often get called “translators” in error. Some of us have been quite exercised about this confusion in the past. But surely the time has now come to give this little battle up as lost - how important is it? 

Thus the protagonist of Muñoz Molina's book is an Andalusia-born “traductor simultáneo” working inter alia in the US; although for the purposes of the plot he might as well have been in any other peripatetic occupation, for example, an airline pilot. 

This particular fictional colleague seems at times to be regrettably subservient to the agency for which he works on the private market in Spain. But where the author mainly shows an unrealistic view of our activity is in his repeated insistence on the importance of words, the challenge of processing all the words in the original:

“a veces, cuando he pasado todo el día trabajando, me duermo y sueño que no he salido de la cabina de traducción, y las palabras me empujan, me envuelven, me arrastran en cenagales de caligrafía, de discursos fotocopiados, de libros que se van escribiendo a medida que yo los leo e intento traducirlos. En Bruselas llueve y no hay nadie por la calle, en un salón de actos se ha prolongado interminablemente una conferencia sobre aranceles agrícolas o sobre las normas de fabricación de preservativos y los traductores soñolientos miran por el cristal de sus cabinas y buscan equivalencias instantáneas para las palabras absurdas que escuchan en los auriculares pensando en otra cosa”

“el zumbido tenue en los auriculares, las primeras palabras, lentas todavía, protocolarias, previsibles, fotocopiadas en la carpeta que me entregaron cuando vine, la urgencia ávida de atraparlas en el instante en que suenan y convertirlas en otras unas décimas de segundo después, el miedo a perder una sola, una palabra clave, porque entonces las que vienen tras ella se desbordarán como una catarata y ya no será posible restituirles el orden”

It may be true that words are the building blocks of the languages that we learn and of the material on which we work. In a deeper sense, however, they are actually irrelevant, for we really deal in sense. After all, when the substance of any message is remembered, whether by an interpreter or not, surely the actual words are often forgotten, undetermined? The three stages (in interpreting) of comprehension, deverbalization and reformulation go a little further than merely eschewing literal translation. This is the nub of the Interpretive Theory of Translation (of interpreting) researchers' théorie du sens, encapsulated in the immortal Seleskovitch's triangle.

This model states that the interpreter transfers the meaning from the original words into (non verbal) sense and then from that sense into other words in the target language.

The great Lewis Carroll was, as always, (talking of the uselessness of literal translations) “on the money” when he wrote in “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland”, “Take care of the sense and the sounds will take care of themselves”. 

Thus also the longstanding slogan coined in and for AIB: “We say what you mean” - our very own creation, despite subsequent plagiarism!

The main character in “Corazón tan blanco”, by the extraordinary contemporary Spanish writer Javier Marías, is also an interpreter. Prior to its publication a dear colleague of ours interpreted him on the legendary French television programme “Apostrophes” and was extensively quizzed over apéritif at the studio afterwards about the way the profession works. Again, however, the result in the book seems somewhat distant from real life. And not just in the hilarious, mythical, scene where the interpreter deliberately, mischievously, progressively, subverts an interview between the thinly disguised Felipe González and Margaret Thatcher by consistently corrupting its content. Jaime Deza, the protagonist of Marías's tour de force trilogy “Tu Rostro Mañana”, is never really quite an interpreter: rather, his occupation combines facets of academic, translator, spy, and seer… But throughout it Marías is, as so often, concerned with linguistic, cultural and historical communication between English- and Spanish-speaking ambits.

All these writers are absolutely recommended, irrespective of whether they depict interpreters or not!

There is, furthermore, a category of interpreters who have become writers but did not include any interpreters among their characters.

The peerless Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar, who was born in Brussels and of whom one may see a statue next to Place Brugmann there, worked as a translator and interpreter for organisations such as UNESCO. He refers to the mental fatigue brought about by a day in the simultaneous interpreter´s booth, the overwhelming sensation of processing so much information; and alludes to the virtues of wine as a remedy.

The admirable Eduardo Mendoza was a true-life interpreter at the United Nations and also on the private market who later chose a career transition, becoming a writer (of such marvels as the Barcelona-based “La ciudad de los prodigios”).

José Ovejero was an interpreter for the European Commission in Brussels for over a decade at the end of last century. He has covered a range of genres, notably fine travel writing, and is best known for his award-winning novel “La invención del amor”.

In these last cases interpreting's loss was clearly literature´s great gain!

Other novels featuring interpreters include “The summer before the dark” by Doris Lessing, “The Mission Song” by John Le Carré, “Travesuras de la niña mala” by Mario Vargas Llosa, and “The hundred-year-old man who climbed out the window and disappeared” by Jonas Jonasson.

On the whole, then: is our professional practice generally misunderstood? - oh, the irony! But does it matter?

Also, is there possibly a gap on the literary market for a more realistic creation? But it would take considerable skill to make our little concerns interesting to a broader audience?

AIB's First Hybrid Assembly With Associates

 By Mary Fons, AIB

Last month (that would be March 2025 to future readers!) we AIB members held our first General Assembly of the year. For the first time, our associates were able to join us – mostly in person, too! Unfortunately, much as we love to see one another face to face, there's always someone who can't make it.

Early (Amateurish) Attempts: Great Intentions

We operate as a group so ideally we want everyone's input when we get together to assess the past and work out our plans for the future, but we are rarely if ever all in the same city at the same time, so we first dipped our toes into remote participation a year or two before the pandemic. It was an exercise in frustration. We didn't know much about remote audio, connection quality, or microphone types. We could tell we needed different equipment – but had no idea what to buy or how much it might cost. 

We were also undisciplined about not interrupting when things got interesting. Or funny! Remote participants were more or less able to follow an uninterrupted presentation, but it was hard for those of us attending in person to hear them properly when they spoke, and our on-site exchanges were thoroughly confusing to them, with terrible sound at the other end, so we dropped the idea.

Remote Simultaneous Interpretation: Our Chance to Learn

Fast forward through a pandemic, one of the strictest lockdown policies in Europe and five years of remote simultaneous interpretation (we interpreters call it "RSI" for short –  nothing to do with painful wrists). 

Having been forced by circumstances to train in order to provide RSI services, we AIBers learned a lot about remote connections and remote interaction. We all bought equipment individually, experimented with its use as a community, shared tips with the larger interpreter community, and brought it all to bear once we were able to meet in person again. Just a couple of years after lockdown measures terminated our March 2020 General Assembly a couple of hours early, we had worked out how to set up a small-scale hybrid general assembly of our own at a very reasonable cost (viz., the taxi I need to carry all my equipment to the meeting venue). 

I was proud. Sure, there were hiccups, but with 10 or 12 in-person attendees at most and plenty of mutual trust, we were able to overcome the issues, have some laughs, and take it all in stride. We still have our occasional moments with reverberation at the start of our meetings: certain timing constraints mean that we're simultaneously trying to set everything up at the venue and communicate what's going on to our remote attendees. While our audio setup is not suitable for interpretation purposes, we've certainly managed to avoid any eardrum-shattering feedback and we know what action to take when problems arise. 

Scaling Up

But now our AIB family is larger. We have seven associates, and we definitely want to hear from them as we figure out our second quarter-century, so our latest General Assembly was a much bigger in-person affair and we needed more space. I figured we'd need more than one cardioid microphone to pass around and more than one webcam, so I planned for that and brought two tripods for the webcam, two USB-C adapters, and my usual full complement of cables, modem and so forth. Still, I was on tenterhooks –  proud to show off the system to my fellow geeks among our newbies, yet uneasy about the increased number of on-site connections. Despite my everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to packing, would the enlarged meeting fail because of missing equipment? 

I needn't have worried. AIB has always been a supportive community, never more so than over the need to figure out RSI, and that attitude is shared by the colleagues we invited in. Associates Anna and Josh were able to deliver an excellent presentation and share it online, and Daniel immediately stepped up to take charge of the second webcam and mic for our discussions.

Were there hiccups? Sure. But we had a few laughs, we tweaked the system, and I know we'll do better next time (Daniel already had a couple of good suggestions). It was wonderful to welcome Alex, Anna, Daniel, Ignasi, Josh and Laia to a proper meeting in person, and to see and hear Eleonora remotely. And I'm no longer the lone resident in-person geek!

Don't Do This At Home At Work

Guess what? A decent large-scale hybrid meeting still requires good equipment and professional sound engineers who understand telecoms (even better: a large-enough team, with someone specifically in charge of telecoms who understands how they interface with sound). The more people and the more microphones are located in a single space together, the more likely is a speaker's sound to start reverberating through the sound system. If people have to share mics and pass them around during an important exchange of views, things will inevitably slow down and the flow will be more awkward.

Now add simultaneous interpreting to the mix. Without experienced technicians, your on-site audience may find itself hearing the interpreters over the meeting sound system (so the interpreters hear themselves louder than they hear the speakers) and reverberation or feedback noises may ensue. Professional tech support becomes even more important when simultaneous interpretation is offered at a hybrid meeting.

But hey, on a smaller scale and without interpretation, DIY is definitely doable.

My 5 must-dos to get the most out of my conference "high"

Por Alexandra de Vries, AIB

Recently I attended ELIA Together, a great conference for language industry professionals in Barcelona, and it was – as those tend to be – a blast!

I spent two full days, making tons of new contacts and jotting down all kinds of ideas while listening to inspiring speakers and chatting with colleagues and potential clients. 

I try to attend at least one or two conferences in my field every year, and I always come home from them on a "conference high", full of ideas and energy from meeting new people. 

However, over the years I’ve learned that part of the conference magic happens after the event.

When I first started attending conferences, I would dump my conference tote full of business cards, notes and flyers in a corner of my office and dive right back into my regular work routine, telling myself that one day I would go through my notes and contacts — but, of course, I never did. 

So now when I get home, I deliberately take the time to keep that momentum going:

1. I review my conference kit

Although fewer conferences hand out conference goodie bags these days, I still find myself coming home with all kinds of papers, flyers, business cards and handouts. I take the time to go through these and check websites for product info, sign up for relevant newsletters or look up companies on LinkedIn. This is a great way to refresh my memory and review anything that deserves my attention.

2. I keep a spreadsheet of all my new contacts

Networking is one of my favorite parts of attending a conference, but those valuable connections mean nothing if I forget who I met. These days I often save contacts in WhatsApp, LinkedIn and other social media. Some people still hand out business cards. 

I find it helpful to add all the important contacts to a spreadsheet that includes the person’s name and contact information, the name of the event and some key information that made me want to remember the person. I may be terrible at remembering names, but I am pretty good at recalling that friendly British interpreter who also works with Dutch and Portuguese I met at a conference in Milan, or the company rep I talked to in Lisbon who sells a new accounting software for freelance linguists. 

3. I review my notes

One of the things I love about conferences is the opportunity to attend a variety of sessions and workshops. In my daily work, I don’t often have the luxury to simply sit back, listen, reflect and ask questions. During sessions, I jot down ideas for my business or professional development, or make a note of an interesting book or podcast that is mentioned. 

Even a speaker who doesn’t come across as the liveliest while on stage can be an invaluable source of inspiration, as they may just plant the seed for an idea that will only ripen later. Instead of letting my notes languish in those conference notes, I now go through them and add the ‘good’ ones (some turn out to be less inspired in hindsight) to my ‘little notebook of ideas’ for future use.

4. I send follow-up emails or messages

Within a week of the conference (leave it too long and it becomes awkward), I send a quick follow-up message to the people I want to stay connected with. I keep it casual, but do mention where we met, reference something we discussed and express my interest to stay in touch or add them on LinkedIn. 

More and more conferences now use an app that includes a list of the participants. I find this very helpful for flagging all the people I chatted with and want to remember. That way I don’t have to focus on getting their contact information while enjoying a conversation. I also use the app to follow-up with people I wish I had talked to but didn’t.

5. I review the session slides

When a conference offers access to presentation slides, I revisit the talks that stood out to me and check the ones I missed that had people talking. I check out any useful resources and sign up for newsletters or send a LinkedIn request to follow an interesting speaker or company. 

For me, attending a conference is just the beginning. The real value lies in what I do with the information afterward. By reviewing my notes and materials, connecting with my new contacts and applying what I learned, I get much more out of the conference than the usual tax-deductible fun — and feel all the luckier for the opportunity.

La Interpretación Simultánea en Los Parlamentos Nacionales

 Por Cristina Amils, AIB

Muchos son los países plurilingües en el mundo. Según un estudio independiente encargado por el Foro Económico Mundial en 2017, solo hay 34 países con más de una lengua oficial, mientras que hay otros países, como Estados Unidos y México que declaran no tener ninguna lengua oficial.

El artículo 3 de la Constitución Española establece que el castellano es la lengua oficial del Estado y a la vez marca la cooficialidad de las demás lenguas en las respectivas comunidades autónomas. Estas lenguas son el catalán, valenciano, euskera y gallego. Desde 2011 se pueden utilizar las lenguas cooficiales en el Senado, que dispone de un servicio de interpretación simultánea de todas ellas hacia el castellano. El Congreso de los Diputados tardó un poco más en aprobar la ley que permite el uso de las lenguas cooficiales en sus sesiones. Dicha ley se aprobó en septiembre de 2023 y el servicio de interpretación simultánea (a distancia) se puso en marcha en diciembre del mismo año. Aquí se puede leer el acuerdo de la Mesa del Congreso de los Diputados relativo al régimen lingüístico en los debates en los órganos parlamentarios, 

En 2024 se sacaron a licitación los servicios de interpretación simultánea para el Congreso y en la Agrupación de Intérpretes de Barcelona (AIB) decidimos constituir una UTE con nuestra asociación hermana de Madrid, la Agrupación de Intérpretes de Madrid (AIM), para presentarnos a dicho concurso. El contrato nos fue adjudicado y ha entrado en vigor en enero de 2025.

La decisión de permitir el uso de otras lenguas, además de la oficial en la cámara alta y la cámara baja del país, ha llegado bastante tarde a España, si lo comparamos con otros países. Esto me ha llevado a indagar sobre la situación de otros parlamentos nacionales y países del mundo en los que cohabitan más de una lengua oficial. No ha sido fácil obtener la información y, probablemente, la lista de países que se presenta a continuación no es exhaustiva.

Estos son los países cuyas cámaras legislativas emplean más de un idioma y ofrecen interpretación simultánea. Empecemos por Europa: 

     • Suiza: El primer intento de interpretación simultánea en el parlamento suizo se realizó en 1946 con sus cuatro lenguas nacionales (alemán, francés, italiano y romanche), pero un año más tarde se decidió limitarlo a tres idiomas. En 1948 se puso en marcha el servicio en la cámara baja con alemán y francés y en 2004 se le añadió el italiano.

    • Bélgica: Este país fue pionero en la introducción de la interpretación simultánea en sus cámaras legislativas e inició su recorrido en ¡1936! Los flamencos católicos del norte se negaban a intervenir en francés y de ahí que se instaurara la interpretación de francés a neerlandés y viceversa, con la ayuda de una de las primerísimas instalaciones de interpretación simultánea que algunos políticos habían visto y experimentado en asambleas de la Sociedad de las Naciones y en la OIT. Para más información, recomiendo la lectura del trabajo de fin de máster de David Janssen de la Universidad de Lieja.

    • Kosovo: La Asamblea de la República de Kosovo fue establecida en 2001 directamente por la MINUK (Misión de Administración Provisional de las Naciones Unidas en Kosovo). La Constitución de Kosovo, que data del año 2008, declara que el albanés y el serbio son las lenguas oficiales del país, por lo cual las sesiones de su parlamento se realizan en estos dos idiomas con la ayuda de interpretación simultánea. No obstante, también está prevista la interpretación de y hacia las demás lenguas presentes en su territorio, principalmente de y hacia el bosnio y el turco.

    • País de Gales: La Asamblea Nacional de Gales es una entidad bilingüe que cuenta con la presencia activa del galés y del inglés desde 1996. Por ello, en todas las sesiones de su parlamento está disponible un servicio de interpretación simultánea del galés al inglés (únicamente en esta dirección).

    • Groenlandia: La lengua oficial de Groenlandia es el groenlandés y se estipula que las sesiones en su parlamento deben realizarse en esta lengua, pero se permite a los miembros que no dominen la lengua del país expresarse en danés. Para ello se proporciona interpretación simultánea del danés al groenlandés y viceversa.

    • Dinamarca: A raíz de un reciente incidente en el parlamento danés protagonizado por una diputada representando a Groenlandia que reclamaba su derecho a intervenir en groenlandés y que se la interpretara de forma simultánea al danés, el presidente de la cámara accedió a lanzar una prueba piloto para la interpretación simultánea del groenlandés y feroés, por lo que el 26 de noviembre de 2024 la diputada Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam pudo pronunciar su discurso en groenlandés con interpretación simultánea al danés.

Pasemos ahora a las cámaras legislativas del resto del mundo que oficialmente cuentan con un servicio de interpretación simultánea para sus varias lenguas oficiales o cooficiales:

    • Canadá: El 15 de enero de 1959 se introdujo la interpretación simultánea entre inglés<>francés en la Cámara de los Comunes en Canadá y desde entonces no ha dejado de ofrecerse. La Cámara cuenta con un total de 38 intérpretes que ofrecen este servicio. Desde 2008, en el Senado se ofrece también interpretación simultánea de las lenguas indígenas hacia el inglés y el francés. En 2019 se introdujo esta opción en la Cámara de los Comunes.

    • India: Las lenguas oficiales en el parlamento indio son el hindi y el inglés, pero la cámara ofrece también interpretación simultánea de todas sus lenguas regionales hacia el hindi y el inglés, lo que suma un total de 22 lenguas. El sistema se introdujo por primera vez en 1964 con 14 lenguas y se ha ido ampliando con el tiempo.

    • Israel: En la Knéset se empezó a ofrecer interpretación simultánea a principios de los años 50 debido a que algunos de los diputados de lengua materna árabe no entendían suficientemente el hebreo para poder seguir los debates. Después de la Guerra de los Seis Días en 1967, los diputados árabes empezaron a dominar cada vez más el hebreo y desde 1980 el servicio de interpretación simultánea se ofrece únicamente de forma puntual.

    • Malasia: En Malasia la lengua oficial del Parlamento es el malayo y se ofrece interpretación simultánea al inglés cuando asisten visitantes extranjeros y en situaciones puntuales. También se ofrece interpretación simultánea del inglés al malayo cuando se requiere.

    • Marruecos: En 2022 el parlamento marroquí empezó a utilizar la interpretación simultánea para el árabe y el tamazight, la lengua de los bereberes.

    • Nueva Zelanda: Desde 2010, en el parlamento de Nueva Zelanda, los diputados que lo deseen pueden expresarse en maorí y se ofrece interpretación simultánea hacia el inglés.

    • Pakistán: La Asamblea nacional y el Senado de Pakistán ofrecen interpretación simultánea del urdu al inglés y viceversa.

    • Singapur: Los diputados de la cámara legislativa pueden expresarse en cualquiera de los cuatro idiomas oficiales (inglés, malayo, mandarín y tamil) desde el 1º de julio de 1959.

    • Sri Lanka: La interpretación simultánea se introdujo por primera vez en la cámara legislativa en 1957, por lo que se convirtió en el primer país de la región de Asia en ofrecer este servicio en su parlamento. Al principio solo estaba disponible para la interpretación del cingalés y del tamil hacia el inglés, pero actualmente se ofrece el servicio en todas las direcciones.

    • Sudáfrica: Desde el año 2004, el parlamento sudafricano (POSA) ofrece interpretación simultánea en los 11 idiomas oficiales del país, más lengua de signos. En la práctica, prevalecen 4 de las 11 lenguas y es necesario solicitar con cierta antelación la interpretación de determinadas lenguas indígenas.

Estas son las conclusiones a las que he llegado, pero no me extrañaría que se me hayan escapado algunos países… ¿Alguien quiere añadir alguno a la lista?

¡Bienvenido 2025! -Cumplimos 25 años de AIB

Por Pilar García Crecente, AIB  

¿Quizá los algoritmos nos leen ya la mente o incluso los recónditos lugares de la mente? El magnífico artículo de Michelle no lo menciona, pero ¡quién sabe! Dicho sea de paso, el listón lo ha dejado muy alto, porque lo que yo escribiré hoy aquí no va a llegarle ni a la suela del zapato.

Recomiendo, pues, encarecidamente leer con calma The Year in AI, Wrapped y seguir muy de cerca el excelente trabajo del AIIC Science Hub AI Workstream.

Y ya puestos, nos irá muy bien estar al corriente de las novedades y la excelente formación que ofrece https://www.techforword.com/ de Josh Goldsmith, nuestro querido nuevo asociado de AIB; ¡que a eso voy ahora!

Arrancar el año dando la bienvenida a los nuevos asociados de AIB que se suman a nuestro equipo es emocionante. AIB se fortalece en 2025 con la incorporación de talento joven y solidario que nos revitaliza, nos impulsa y nos ilusiona. Podéis verlos aquí (solo falta Eleonora). 

El año empieza con un proyecto que nos hace especial ilusión, la adjudicación de los servicios de interpretación de las lenguas cooficiales en el Congreso de los Diputados a la UTE formada por AIB y la Agrupación de Intérpretes de Madrid S.L.

Este logro se ha conseguido gracias a la confianza que nos brindaron los intérpretes que conformarán los equipos, el compromiso y la dedicación del equipo encargado de la licitación y el respaldo de las dos agrupaciones, pequeñas empresas integradas en su totalidad por intérpretes profesionales miembros de ESPaiic: BOE PUBLICACION OFICIAL.

¡Además cumplimos 25 años!, momento para celebrar a lo grande, reflexionar sobre nuestro recorrido y proyectarnos hacia el futuro con renovada energía. 

A lo largo de un cuarto de siglo, hemos construido una reputación basada en la excelencia, la solidaridad, la colaboración y el compromiso con nuestros clientes y socios. Cada logro ha sido posible gracias al esfuerzo y dedicación de un equipo apasionado y a la confianza de quienes han creído en nuestra visión. Este año no solo celebramos 25 años de trayectoria, sino también el inicio de otros tantos llenos de innovación, talento y ambición.

Me preguntaba yo al inicio si acaso nos lee la inteligencia artificial, porque lo cierto es que había arrinconado por completo que me correspondía escribir el primer artículo del año 2025 para nuestro blog, y esta mañana una red social me mostró una publicación de un autor que contaba cómo se había olvidado de que tenía que entregar su columna de opinión hasta que le llamaron cuando faltaba una hora para la publicación…Esa ha sido mi llamada al orden, pido disculpas de antemano por la escasa enjundia de esta reseña que solo pretende transmitir alegrías y buenos deseos. 

¡Gracias por la comprensión y Feliz Año!

The Year in AI, Wrapped

By Michelle Hof, AIB

As 2024 draws to a close, a lot of “best of” lists are being shared: top 100 books of the year, 10 best movies to watch with family over the holidays, top 5 artists on your Spotify feed, and so on. 

Here are some of the lessons I have learned this year as a member of the Science Hub AI workstream about artificial intelligence as it applies to our community of professionals. These are largely inspired by what I saw at the event “The Impact of AI on Interpreting” organized by AIIC Switzerland in Geneva earlier this autumn. Here we go:

1) AI is drawing our attention like never before – while it may have felt a niche topic only a few years ago, AI is now on all interpreters’ minds. The AIIC Switzerland event showed this, with over 100 attendees making the trip to Geneva, some from outside Europe. This interest is also reflected in the number of followers that the AI workstream’s LinkedIn page has gained in the few months since it was launched (over 516 at last count).

2) The AI landscape is constantly shifting – Developments in AI are being rolled out almost daily, it seems, with groundbreaking new capabilities being announced in quick succession. AIIC Switzerland’s event coincided with the rollout of the updated large language model OpenAI o1, but since then there have been even more eye-popping AI-powered tools unveiled, like OpenAI’s recent announcement of its new Sora video generator, or Google’s AI agent-focused Gemini 2.0, with its “everything app” prototype Project Astra. With so much going on, it can feel hard to stay on top of things.

3) Interpreters’ views on AI are increasingly nuanced – The good news is, as a community we interpreters seemed to have moved on from what I’ll call “freak out” mode into a more productive space, where we are asking informed questions and examining how we can engage with technological developments. This was clearly seen at the AIIC Switzerland event, where both speakers and attendees showed a more sophisticated understanding of AI and were not afraid to tackle the tough questions about what AI means for us as a profession and what we need to know going forward.

4) We can benefit from existing expertise on AI – Speaking of what we need to know about AI, in Geneva we heard from a broad range of speakers, each offering a different answer to that question. It was clear that AIIC Switzerland wanted not only to hear from interpreting colleagues in the know, but also to engage with tech experts from outside our community. Panelists included experts in everything from computer-assisted interpreting tools and cognitive load to digital law, media design and ethics. 

5) More interpreters are using AI-powered tools than you might think – In one talk, Paris-based AIIC member and interpreter trainer Andrew Gillies showed us who is already embracing AI-powered tools. Over a series of slides, Gillies shared the results of a snap survey he sent out to colleagues (the full write-up with all the figures can be found here). While Gillies’ convenience sample of 400 or so respondents, mainly based in Europe, may not be fully representative of our global industry, the numbers still paint a vivid picture: as many as 80% of respondents working on the private market reported using some form of AI in their work, whether for translation (80%), glossary creation (45%), term extraction (35%), document preparation (30%) or transcription (20%). The numbers are somewhat lower for colleagues in the institutional market, where just over half reported using these tools in their work. Gillies pointed out that use varied widely depending on the type of tool in question (e.g. DeepL use was reported by 80% of respondents, automated boothmates by only 8%). But I think most of us in Geneva were amazed to see just how many interpreters are already incorporating these tools into our work in some way.

6) A host of AI-powered tools are already available for interpreters to use – In Geneva we also heard from Prof. Dr. Anja Rütten of the TH Köln, a self-professed techie and a fellow member of AIIC’s AI workstream, about a number of the tools that we can tap into to improve our workflow. On one of her slides, she listed over two dozen different AI tools for speech recognition, live prompting, multi-source searching, abstracting and more. Rütten runs a blog where she reviews and explains a lot of these applications, so I will spare you the details here, but her presentation left us all with the clear impression that whatever needs doing, there seems to be an AI tool trying to help you do it.

7) Some of the interpreters using AI do not consider confidentiality – Of those interpreters who do not use AI tools, it is thought that one barrier to use may be concerns about confidentiality (as Gillies showed us, many institutions have rules in place limiting AI use for this reason). Of those interpreters who do use AI, not all take steps to ensure confidentiality for their clients’ material. Here, some colleagues reported that they did this by only using materials in the public domain (60%), while others said they addressed confidentiality concerns by taking out subscriptions (50%), asking their clients for permission to use AI tools (15%), and/or using tools with ISO security certificates (15%). However, about 10% of AI users reported that they did not take any steps at all to ensure confidentiality. In a profession such as ours, that figure should be zero.

8) It is not only confidentiality that we need to be thinking of – As we learned from invited guest Yaniv Benhamou, Professor of Digital Law, Copyright and Information Law at the University of Geneva, there are at least three different interfaces where AI and intellectual property (IP) meet in our work, and we need to understand the nuances of each. In addition to the issues thrown up when confidential documents are fed into AI-powered tools, there is also the threat of copyrighted works being used to train AI models – which we might face, for instance, if interpreters’ interpretations and voices were to be scraped from the internet to train AI-powered speech translation tools. Also, there is the question of privacy violations when user data is fed into AI models. These three concerns – confidentiality, copyright and data protection – were addressed at the very interesting PriMS event on IP rights held on 28 September. AIIC would do well to become better informed about them, and the AI workstream is working with Prof. Benhamou’s team to gain a better understanding of the legal landscape surrounding AI and how it affects us.

9) We all want to learn more about AI – Back to those AI-powered tools, then. Rütten rightly stated that the next step has to be about fostering AI literacy. Her school, the TH Köln, is currently building a CAI tool campus intended to do just that. As an interpreter trainer myself, I agree wholeheartedly that interpreting schools urgently need to incorporate tech training, and specifically AI-related topics, into their curricula. But it’s not just students we need to be thinking about – practitioners are also calling for more training to help them understand what is at stake. I predict that 2025 will be the year that we all learn something new about AI and the role it can play in our work.

10) Interpreters must lead the debate around AI use in our profession – Rounding off this top 10 is my conviction that interpreters cannot afford to just stand by and observe developments. This proactive stance is what governs the AI workstream’s approach: our aim is to ensure that AIIC members have what they need to understand the world of AI, to guide our clients in decisions about its use, and to leverage its benefits for our own work. Equally importantly, we aim to ensure that AIIC’s voice is heard in the forums where decisions about technology are taken. 

So that is my year in AI, wrapped! I imagine that 2025 will bring us even more exciting news about artificial intelligence – and AIIC’s AI workstream will be there to help you make sense of it.

This article has also been posted here.

On being a multinational interpreter

By Martha Hobart, AIB

European People's Party, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Conference interpreters are a quintessentially multinational lot and often live, permanently or temporarily, in countries other than their birthplaces.

Sometimes it’s because they feel drawn to a particular country and its culture, and other times it’s because they are learning a new language and choose to take up residence in a country where the language is spoken. Said residence may be temporary, or they may fall in love with the place and decide to make it their permanent home.

It’s an exciting life choice for the adventurous, but it can involve complications for interpreters, who are often called upon to work in multiple places around the world.

Full disclosure 🙂

I started in the United States and later as a young adult went to live in Spain, where I’ve been for most of my life.

I had some work experience in the United States before I left and therefore made some contributions to the Social Security system in that country, which I was entitled to claim as benefits when I retired. This of course affected my tax situation.

Most of what I’m describing here is based on my own experience, which may be useful to readers, at least to give you an idea of some of the complications involved in living the multinational life. The terminology I use is based on my knowledge and experience in the US. I hope it will be comprehensible to people from other countries.

Now let’s look at what’s involved in living the multinational life.

An important aspect is adapting to unfamiliar cultural norms. Another is whether to opt for permanent residency or to become a citizen of the new country. That’s a very personal decision, but it can have practical implications.

Let’s say you intend to live for a limited time in a new country and then move elsewhere. Entering on a tourist visa (if you are so required) may not be practical since you would not be allowed to work legally, so the next step is a residence permit. Different countries have different ways of handling residency of foreigners and may or may not offer the option of eventual permanent residency.

The other legal status option is to become a citizen of your new country, which is not a minor decision and depends on what arrangements exist regarding your birth citizenship and how that is affected by acquiring citizenship in another country. Citizenship is often seen by authorities as equivalent to loyalty, especially if there has been a history of hostilities between your birth country and your new country.

If you decide to take on citizenship in another country, this would usually mean adding another passport to your collection of documents. And learning when to use which passport for international travel.

There is also the matter of how your name will appear on your documents, which may or may not be so simple. But I’ll leave that subject for the end.

Now we’ll move on to taxation, which will likely be a major concern for you, no matter what your citizenship/residency status is.

Two questions arise: Which is your country of residence, and where do you pay income tax?

As an interpreter, you may be an employee of some sort of organization, or you may be freelance, which means self-employed in tax jargon.

When we work in countries other than our place of residence, we need to be clear about payment for our services. This may be handled by the organization that employs us, which will have already specified the details of our financial arrangements with them.

But things can be more complicated for freelancers, depending on whether we are hired by an agency for the assignment or directly by the end client.

In either case, we will report our earnings on our annual income tax return. I’m assuming that most working people are required to pay yearly income tax in their country of residence. But what about those who are citizens of one country but residents of another?

Most countries have fiscal arrangements to make sure we are not subject to double taxation, although you may be required to report your earnings in the country of which you are a citizen but not a resident. This means filing an income tax return or some other type of documentation to justify that you have already paid your yearly income tax in your country of residence.

Sound confusing? It is, but it is important to understand that tax liability is subject to multiple factors, which you will learn as you go along in your career.

Hence the importance of rigorous bookkeeping, either doing it yourself or hiring a professional. And it is always a good idea to be in contact with a financial adviser who can assist you when in doubt.

Important also is the subject of contributions to retirement funds. Automatic withholding for deposit in some sort of retirement fund is usually standard when billing for interpretation assignments, and different countries and international institutions have different ways of handling this. The interpreter needs to be aware of the details in each case.

If you are a freelancer and are able to deal directly with the end client, you would most likely be required to add the retirement fund contribution to your invoice. And that money could be deposited in a retirement fund of your choosing.

But if you are an employee of an organization or a freelancer on assignment through an agency or an international organization, you need to be aware of how and where your retirement fund payments will be deposited. And how you can access the benefits you are entitled to receive when you retire.

Now I backtrack to the subject of what your future name might be. If you remain as a foreign resident in your new country, it should be the name that appears on your passport. However, my experience was not so simple.

I came to Spain when Franco was still alive, and the country was extremely isolated from the rest of the world. It was then and still is the custom to use two surnames, both father and mother, and I came from the US where only one surname is the norm. I found myself constantly coming up against obstacles when doing things like opening a bank account, purchasing standard services like telephone, electricity, etc. In other words, all the things we do to establish a home. I was missing the second surname and people didn’t know what to do with me.

I had to do a bit of juggling to find a rather makeshift solution to the problem, which I can’t go into now. But it came up again when I decided to apply for Spanish citizenship and was asked what I wanted my name to be. That required some more juggling, but I figured out a way to manage it for passport purposes that has worked. So far.

So a quick look at what would seem to be a simple matter, but there are actually many different ways of naming people:
1 given name - surname 1 - surname 2
2 given names - surname 1 - surname 2
2 given names - 1 surname only
1 given name - 1 surname only

And there are yet more ways to handle people’s names. The Chinese, for example, put the family name before the given name, which causes much confusion in western countries.

How do Chinese people manage this situation? One way is by adopting what they call their western names and living with more than one name. It could be interesting to ask Chinese colleagues how they manage it.

Other non-western countries may also have different naming structures, but I know nothing about that.

And, finally, an amusing anecdote told to me by a Spanish colleague, which highlights the importance of culture as part of the interpreter’s linguistic toolbox.

She was the only Spanish interpreter on a multinational team with several languages in some international setting. A Spanish speaker jokingly mentioned pastillas Juanola, which flummoxed the entire team — except this particular colleague, who knew quite well what he was talking about, since these iconic candies had been part of her childhood.

 

 Tripallokavipasek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons