Bio

Bashir has been an interpreter and translator for most of his adult life, working in the English–Malay and English–Indonesian language pairs. He began his career as a staff interpreter in the judiciary and later parliament, before becoming a full-time freelancer. He continues working in various interpreting settings – broadcast, court, community, conference and parliament – and a range of domains including social services, the arts, law, language and culture, government and politics, business and management, trade unions, rainforest conservation, environment, health and safety. Written translation continues to be a significant part of his job.

Talking AI – Where is it heading for interpreters?

The irony is, even as the technology progresses, interpreting practitioners like Bashir have not, thus far, experienced working with AI. There are, of course, many AI applications for the avid traveller, although they have been mostly limited to written translation and not instantaneous delivery, where there is no luxury of time for human–machine collaboration.

So, is it going to be a case of one or the other in the near future? A future where the industry and clients will choose between MT and human interpreters?