Reflections on technology and interpreter training

Abstract

Like any other professional activity, interpreting has been reshaped by technology. Around a decade ago, I described this broader transformation as the technological turn in interpreting: a shift affecting the entire ecosystem through the incorporation of digital technologies, most notably, though not exclusively, remote interpreting, computer-assisted interpreting, and machine interpreting. What was once peripheral has become central. For better or worse, this is now plain to see.

 Interpreter training, unsurprisingly, has not remained untouched. Across many universities, technologies of one kind or another have entered the curriculum, much as they had already done years earlier in translation education. The forms this takes vary considerably. Some programmes address these developments mainly at a theoretical level, introducing students to the tools and trends shaping the profession. Others integrate technology directly into classroom practice: students work with remote interpreting platforms, explore the possibilities and limitations of computer-assisted interpreting tools, and become familiar with new digital workflows. Sometimes this happens in dedicated modules; in other cases, technologies are embedded across practical interpreting classes. Yet, despite the growing centrality of technology in professional life, some programmes still do not address interpreting technologies at all.