Are interpreters and interpreting technology ready for the post-Covid era?

Salaets, Heidi; Balogh, Katalin

doi:10.1075/btl.160.13sal

Part of

Introducing New Hypertexts on Interpreting (Studies): A tribute to Franz Pöchhacker
Edited by Cornelia Zwischenberger, Karin Reithofer and Sylvi Rennert
[Benjamins Translation Library 160] 2023
► pp. 254–276

Are interpreters and interpreting technology ready for the post-Covid era?

Heidi Salaets | KU Leuven, Antwerp Campus , Belgium

Katalin Balogh | KU Leuven, Antwerp Campus , Belgium

From its onset in early 2020, the Covid-19 (hereafter Covid) crisis has uncovered both the insecurity about new technologies and their flexibility. In this chapter, we will attempt to provide a non-exhaustive map of the field of interpreting technology in different settings, of research on these new technologies and research using them. Tools and resources that enhance an interpreter’s performance will also be discussed as part of technological evolution, while the final question to be answered is whether “interpreters [can] survive in an AI-dominated world” (Downie 2020). This contribution wants to be a call to do more large-scale research and to inform future interpreters better about technological development and opportunities in the classroom.

Keywords: interpreting technology, terminology, conference interpreting, dialogue interpreting, sign language interpreting (SLI), interpreting technology research, interpreting technology training, (in)visibility, cognitive load

Article outline

Introduction
1.Preparation: The conference interpreter’s context
2.Preparation: The sign language interpreter’s (SLI) and the dialogue interpreter’s context
3.Technology used during an interpreter’s performance
- 3.1Telephone interpreting in dialogue interpreting
- 3.2Technology use in conference interpreting
- 3.3Dialogue interpreting
4.Training & research
Conclusion
Notes
References

Published online: 14 April 2023

https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.160.13sal

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