ITI Conference 2024

“New world, new work” was the theme of the ITI Conference 2024, held at the John McIntyre Conference Centre in Edinburgh (and online) on 4 and 5 June. The event featured engaging speakers, thought-provoking keynotes, and useful sessions, many of which explored the challenges in the new world of work where artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly encroaches upon the territory of translators and interpreters.

 

What does the future hold for translators and interpreters
in an AI-dominated world?

Mingling with like-minded professionals is always a delight, and I felt warmly welcomed by everyone I encountered. ITI conferences are renowned for being vibrant events where practical knowledge is shared, generous advice is given, and inspiring ideas are conveyed in an open, convivial and friendly atmosphere.

The urgent need to adapt to AI

My motivation for attending was twofold: meeting or reconnecting with fellow professionals and friends within ITI as well as comparing notes with them; and seeking guidance on how to brace myself for the new AI world. I translate patents and so far have not yet had to “post-edit” a machine translation myself. I can’t help wondering for how much longer I’ll actually be able to carry on working in my bubble.

 

A key message conveyed at the conference was the urgent need to adapt our skills to the far reaching challenges posed by AI. AI is already demonstrating remarkable capabilities, and I have no doubt it will continue to improve at mind-boggling speed. What does the future hold for me and other translators as well as interpreters? 

As Sara Robertson, ITI’s new Chief Executive, pointed out in her keynote speech, we need to increase our ability and willingness to be resilient, adaptable, entrepreneurial, our own marketing team, the solution to our clients’ problems, and professionals. She proposed that if the theme of the conference is “New world, new work”, then perhaps there also needs to be a new you!

 

To compete with AI, we will need to be resilient, adaptable, entrepreneurial,
our own marketing team, the solution to our clients’ problems, and professionals

 

A tool for generating ideas and first drafts

It was suggested in several sessions that AI is just a tool. It can therefore, for example, act as an idea generator in SEO translation, as mentioned by Tess Whitty MITI in her talk “Adding SEO expertise to compete with AI”. According to Bex Elder MITI in her talk “Raging against the machine: Is translation really dying?”, AI could serve as a helpful starting point in translation. Terence Lewis MITI, in his conversation with Cate Avery FITI on the topic “AI: Will there be a place for me?”, pointed out that AI output can be considered a first draft and could be useful for brainstorming.

Terence predicted that the first stage of the translation process will eventually be taken over by AI, but he also stressed that AI can easily get the wrong end of the stick. After all, AI cannot understand people, languages, and cultures; it just understands numbers. AI cannot read between the lines, which is so important in translation and interpreting. While we must absolutely acknowledge the benefits of AI, we should also make clients aware of the risks involved in using it.

 

The ITI Conference 2024 was held in Edinburgh
on 4 and 5 June 2024

Your accent defines who you are

The conference programme was varied and so vast that reporting in detail on individual talks would go beyond the scope of this blog article. I’m therefore sharing just a few of my own impressions and gleanings. Note that the points mentioned here were not necessarily the key points in the relevant session, but stood out for me personally.

 

Do interpreters’ accents matter? I’m not an interpreter, but the title of Katherine Dagleish’s session appealed to me instantly. Since I’ve become (perhaps excessively) self-conscious about my accent, it was interesting to learn that even native speakers can feel insecure because of their native accents. Katherine reported that, according to a poll, 10% of adults felt teased because they didn’t have “the right accent”, while 17% felt they had missed out on jobs because of it. It is important to realise – to quote from one of Katherine’s slides – that your accent defines who you are and can also locate you economically and socially.

My most enjoyable ITI conference ever

I would like to extend huge thanks to the organisers for putting on this wonderful and beneficial event and also for the lovely bamboo coaster! By the way, it spoke to my minimalist heart that on registration, in addition to my name badge, I wasn’t handed the usual bag full of leaflets and freebies this time. The only real niggle I can think of was the use of cheap plastic plates, glasses and cups in the cafeteria during lunch, which seemed slightly out of place in the otherwise sophisticated environment of the conference centre.

The John McIntyre Conference Centre was a perfect venue

The John McIntyre Conference Centre, with its stunning backdrop of Holyrood Park and Arthur’s Seat in the charming city of Edinburgh, was, in my opinion, a perfect location. Many of us stayed in the student accommodation a very short distance from the venue.

For me, this felt like the most enjoyable ITI conference ever, although I can’t quite put my finger on why. Perhaps it’s because the “less grand” venue of the John McIntyre Conference Centre felt more comfortable. Or perhaps it’s simply because I have finally learnt how to manage my energy a bit better during a large-scale event such as this one. 

Uneasiness about AI and a sense of positivity

All in all, the ITI Conference has once again provided me with the opportunity to learn, network and evolve a bit more as a professional translator. I am still feeling uneasy about our new world of work in which AI is becoming ubiquitous, but I have come away with a renewed sense of positivity and confidence about what I do and what might lie ahead.

 

Mingling with like-minded professionals at ITI conferences is always a delight
(image courtesy of ITI)

5 Tips for minimising screen time (VLOG)

In this video, I suggest 5 practical ways to reduce the time we spend on screens. Focusing too much of our attention on technology, computers and social media isn’t good for our eyes, negatively impacts our posture, and can ruin our sleep.

In my job as a translator, I spend a lot of time in front of computers. While I can’t (and don’t want to) reduce the time I spend working on translations, I can reduce the time I spend on other screen activities.

These 5 hacks have been absolute game changers for me! Watch the video here:

 

ITI Conference 2022

It was wonderful and weird at the same time, to the point of feeling almost surreal: getting together again in the flesh for an ITI Conference! The delight about being actually, physically there, able to talk face to face, as remarked upon by Dr Isabella Moore CBE Hon FITI in her engaging speech, sums up the general mood at this year’s eagerly anticipated ITI Conference.

The ITI Conference was held at the Grand Hotel in Brighton on 31 May and 1 June 2022 and was entitled “Embracing change, emerging stronger”. It was a vibrant and memorable event, which encouraged thinking about new ways to future-proof both our businesses and our lives. 

 

The ITI Conference 2022 at the Grand Hotel in Brighton
was a vibrant and memorable event

A hybrid event with physical distance no longer a barrier to attendance

It was not just the ITI’s first in-person large-scale event after the pandemic, but also its first-ever hybrid event: all sessions attended by on-site attendees were recorded and live-streamed to online attendees worldwide. These were then made available to all attendees to watch at a later time. Attendees consequently no longer faced any dilemmas about having to decide which sessions to attend, while reluctantly having to miss out on others.

The programme was rich and varied, and consisted of four streams (three for translation and one for interpreting), which were running simultaneously. It featured notable and inspiring speakers, who were happy to share not just working methods, but also their personal experiences and ways of coping in recent times – confidently, in an open and strikingly honest way, or enthusing us with their energy or humour!

 

The event encouraged thinking about new ways
to future-proof both our businesses and our lives

The iconic and opulent Grand Hotel on the Brighton seafront was an ideal venue for the event, and there is really only one downside that I feel needs mentioning (as I heard it remarked upon several times): in the Pavilion and the Charlotte Room, where attendees were able to mingle and chat during the welcome drinks reception and coffee breaks, sound absorption was so poor that, regrettably, it was hard to talk to and understand one other.

The world is changing rapidly, and so we must change

It is impossible to provide a condensed overview of the content of all individual sessions, but I’m sure all of us conference-goers have gathered up their own precious nuggets of take-home ideas and inspiration for embracing change. Thank you so much to all the speakers!

My own personal highlights (as I’m about to start thinking about a diversification of my business) include: the presentation by Amelie Aichinger MITI about how to approach a new specialisation; the presentation by Cecilia Lipovsek AITI on strengthening your business with intellectual property; and the panel discussion on learning a new language with Paul Appleyard MITI, Lloyd Bingham MITI, Kasia Wawrzon-Stewart MITI, Richard Davis MITI and Gwen Clayton FITI, which touched on aspects of continued skill development at various stages of our careers.

 

The hard skills of translation

One personal impression (at least one gleaned from the sessions I attended) was that machine translation, although it did receive a mention here and there, is no longer the hot topic it was at some previous translators’ events. The general consensus now seems to be that the way forward is to simply embrace and exploit machine learning and artificial intelligence technology to our advantage (where it’s useful).

 

The focus of some talks was very much on the importance of hard skills – in other words, actual translation as opposed to post-editing work – as well as the added-value human end of translation: this, according to Lloyd Bingham MITI, is the part of the market that we want to operate in. He argued that soft skills are still important – especially in the digital world –, but there is no longer such a heavy focus on them.

 

The ITI Conference 2022 was the ITI's
first-ever hybrid event

 

Rekindling old friendships, networking and learning

Other highlights for me outside the conference programme were the fringe activities, an important part of any ITI Conference: a pub meal with a contingent of the ITI’s German network translators at The Lion & Lobster; drinks with the ITI’s patent translators (the STEP Group) at The Walrus pub; and later on a meal with three people from the STEP Group (who, like me, had not booked for the conference Gala Dinner) at The Prince George pub.

Networking and fringe activities are an important part of any ITI Conference

My overall impression of the ITI Conference 2022 was that it was an invigorating experience for everyone and a great success. It was all about “the rekindling of old friendships, networking and learning”, as described by ITI CEO Paul Wilson in his opening speech. The appeal of an ITI Conference such as this one, beautifully described by one conference attendee, lies in “the magic of genuine human connection”. 

Thank you to the ITI for organising this year’s conference in Brighton, and for the enrichment that was brought about by stimulating presentations and the networking opportunities in the warm and friendly atmosphere that marks any ITI Conference. It was intensive, it was tiring – but it was worthwhile on so many levels.