Tag: artificial-intelligence
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What Would Fair Pay for Translators and Interpreters Actually Look Like?
Translation and Interpreting Studies have documented declining rates and deteriorating working conditions, while commercial intermediaries have raised concerns about the difficulty of attracting and retaining skilled translators and interpreters. Yet a fundamental question remains largely absent from these discussions: What would actually make a rate of pay fair? Discussions of fair pay often move quickly…
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What Happens If Translators Quit?
Please indulge me in a little thought experiment. Imagine that translators who can no longer earn what they consider a reasonable living from translation gradually decide: Enough. I want a secure income and a better work-life balance. I can do something else. What happens next? Some translators might be disheartened about quitting work they love.…
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Can Industry–Academia Collaboration Find a Fair MTPE Pricing Model Without Addressing What “Fair” Means and Without Asking Translators?
I just finished reading an academic paper entitled “In search of a fair MTPE pricing model: LSPs’ reflections and the implications for translators.” The study examines machine translation post-editing (MTPE) pricing through a focus group of eight representatives of commercial intermediaries, referred to in the study as Language Service Providers (LSPs). The participating companies were…
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Dear Translators and Interpreters, You Are Not Alone!
Last week, I watched the drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office because I was looking for inspiration, strength and resilience. As I navigate my own efforts to complete my thesis on the injustices faced by public-service interpreters, I wanted to watch the story of people who persisted in questioning a system that seemed overwhelmingly…
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Corporate Capture of Academic Narratives or Productive Industry–University Collaboration?
Over the past three years, my PhD research has focused on inequality in the UK’s public service interpreting sector. Through survey research, policy analysis and documentary evidence, I have been investigating what outsourcing and commercial intermediation have meant for the people who actually provide language services. The picture that emerged is deeply troubling. Public service…
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Who Is a Language Service Provider, and Who Are the Intermediaries?
One of the persistent sources of confusion in the translation and interpreting profession—and in Translation and Interpreting Studies—is the way we use the term language service provider (LSP). For years, the term has been used to describe commercial agencies and multinational companies that sit between clients and translators or interpreters. Yet this terminology deserves reconsideration.…
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Language Justice Reading List
The list includes articles I have written on the topics of equality and labour rights for interpreters and translators, including empirical research, policy analysis, and critical commentary. They are grouped by theme rather than method, and some contributions appear in multiple categories. The importance of justice and fairness extends beyond the translation industry. As economist…
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Are You Procuring Translation and Interpreting Services Through Agencies and Platforms? Here’s What You Need to Know
When organisations procure translation and interpreting services, decisions often focus on practical considerations: cost, availability, turnaround times, scalability, and administrative convenience. I do not deny that these factors matter. However, language services are not simply interchangeable products moving through a supply chain. They are delivered by human beings. Behind every translated document, interpreted meeting, healthcare…
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The Contradictions of NRPSI: Why Its Current Approach Risks Failing Both Interpreters and the Public
At a time when interpreters face growing economic pressures and public services continue to rely heavily on outsourced interpreting arrangements, there is an urgent need to ask difficult but necessary questions about whether existing approaches are contributing to the crisis facing interpreters and service users. In this article, I argue that there are three main…
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Who Benefits When Professional and Commercial Interests Align—and Celebrate Together?
The Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) reposted on their LinkedIn page a celebratory post by the Association of Translation Companies (ATC), the interest group representing translation companies, often referred to as language service providers (LSPs). The accompanying imagery places the logos of both organisations together, symbolically presenting them as partners in a shared journey…
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Are Translators Being Treated as Professionals, Entrepreneurs, or “Humans as a Service”?
Drawing on Jeremias Prassl’s concept of “Humans as a Service” (developed in relation to the gig economy) (2018), this article argues that translation work is increasingly organised in ways that combine formal independence with practical dependency. Translators are often presented as freelancers or professionals, yet in practice they operate within tightly structured systems where rates,…
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