Cultural sensitivities, security risks pose challenges for using AI in real-time interpretation work in EU
The European Union employs around 1,400 full-time interpreters across 24 languages, based around the bloc.

This audio is generated by an AI tool.
BRUSSELS: Artificial intelligence (AI) could soon take over a key function in the European Union, of translating and interpreting discussions in real time for its 27 members.
The EU employs around 1,400 full-time interpreters across 24 languages, based around the bloc.
Without them, the language barrier would make it virtually impossible for member states to have complex discussions.
The body is currently in the process of passing the world’s first AI legislation, a new law which would regulate a wide range of uses, including interpretation technology which could transform the way the EU operates daily.
USING AI FOR INTERPRETING
The EU’s translation service costs around €350 million (US$381 million) a year, with most of its work focusing on EU law-making.
The advent of AI could see human interpreters replaced by cheaper and faster alternatives, allowing the EU to connect with languages and audiences it could not previously reach.
Several companies have developed AI-powered live interpretation systems.
These allow, for instance, a speaker’s words in English to be translated instantly for a Mandarin-speaking audience in Asia, or French for European and African viewers.
One such company is Kudo, whose CEO and co-founder Fardad Zabetian said AI technology can and should work alongside human interpreters.

“We’re not seeing this as a threat to existing. We can see them really coexisting together. We’re really looking at making language accessible,” he told CNA.
“It’s not only about policy makers using human interpretation and communicating with each other, but how those same policy makers could use AI to be able to connect to a much larger community, including citizens, for a better engagement.”
While AI translation may not be as good as humans for now, the speed at which the technology is evolving means it could be ready to replace interpreters in a matter of years, if not months, according to industry experts.
CULTURAL TRANSFER
The president of Belgium’s Chamber of Translators and Interpreters Max De Brouwer is, however, not worried about AI taking away human jobs just yet.
“Interpreting is about cultural information, it’s about understanding the goal of what’s being said and conveying that in a new culture, so it’s much more sensitive than just translating words,” he told CNA.
“Such cultural transfer is almost impossible to do with artificial intelligence.”

Another concern with using AI for interpretation is security, as high-profile meetings between world leaders require utmost confidentiality from interpreters.
The sensitive nature of these discussions means that even if the technology is available, leaders may be reluctant to use it.
For the vast majority of the EU’s day-to-day translation work, however, the cheap and scalable technology may well prove irresistible to the multilingual institution.