August 2025

“AI is here to stay.”

“Many tasks which require human intelligence can be solved by machines using Artificial Intelligence (AI).”

“We now live in the AI era.”

“AI is changing the world.”

Have you heard or read any of these statements about AI recently?

Let me start by saying that I have always loved languages and technology.

2 of my passions in life.

I love simultaneous interpreting and technology, especially when the latter is useful and practical, and we control it for its intended use. Therefore, just as most of my dear fellow professional conference interpreters, I keep up with the latest trends, needs and solutions both in the language services industry and in the technological sphere.

It is an undeniable fact that throughout history, humans have developed new technological advancements which have changed entire industries (and defined eras) and we have benefitted (and still do) from many of them. Just a few brief examples: automobiles, airplanes, the internet, smartphones, personal computing, spatial computing…

AI is another major technological leap which may define our era and may have very profitable uses in the near future.

That is also an undeniable fact.

However, nevertheless, nonetheless…is AI proving to be the best solution in the language services industry in general and in the simultaneous interpreting arena in particular?

As opposed to consecutive interpreting whereby the interpreter has breaks to analyse and memorise the speaker’s message (even to use a unique notetaking system), during simultaneous interpreting the interpreter listens, analyses, translates and conveys the speaker’s message, register, tone and cultural and contextual nuances into the target language in real time, that is, simultaneously while listening to the source language. This is the most complex interpreting mode which requires highly-trained professionals with a proficient command of several languages in extremely technical and specialised fields while remaining calm under pressure.

Have you heard about the Goya Awards?

They are the top nominations and awards granted by the Spanish cinema academy. If you will, the Goya Awards are the Spanish equivalent to the American Oscars. They are highly coveted and prestigious awards within the cinema industry and every year the ceremony grants the Goya Awards to several categories, including an International Honour awarded to an international film superstar with a distinguished career.

Have you heard of Sigourney Weaver? And Richard Gere?

I’m sure you have heard of them. Last year, Sigourney Weaver was awarded with the 2024 International Goya and, this year, Richard Gere has been honoured with the 2025 International Goya Award.

Why are we talking about the Goya Awards?

Because both last year and during this year’s ceremony, AI machine interpreting was the “solution” chosen to “interpret” Sigourney Weaver’s and Richard Gere’s award acceptance speech. And all the attendees at the venue and the millions of viewers who enjoyed the gala live on RTVE (Spanish national TV) across the Spanish-speaking world who do not understand English missed a great deal of cultural references, contextual nuances, specialised jargon, personal messages and basic content. What did AI “interpreting” mean at this very prestigious cinema ceremony? A very poor “subtitle” service, broken sentences in Spanish and substantial gaps in grammar, content and semantics.

I am not 100% but 1,000% sure that any professional simultaneous interpreter specialised in the Spanish-English language pair with years of experience working at his craft (i.e. myself as well as dozens of other fellow professional interpreters I have shared the Spanish booth with at multiple international conferences and events over the years) would have accomplished a much more natural, accurate, seamless and professional performance than AI did for the enjoyment of millions of viewers and cinema fans worldwide.

We could provide other examples whereby “AI machine interpreting solutions” have not proved to be a competent option, nevermind a language solution.

But allow me to share 2 simple analogies to make a point.

2 simple things which billions of human beings all over the world (including myself) absolutely love.

Coffee and food.

1. Coffee

When it comes to coffee, given the choice, what option would you prefer, and why?

A quick cup of coffee prepared by a vending machine after simply pressing a couple of buttons?

Or a delicious cup of coffee prepared by a highly-skilled seasoned professional barista who knows the best coffee beans, the optimal roast, the perfect aromatic blend, and who has years of expertise working hard at his craft to bring you the finest coffee from the organic plantation to your cup?

(Incidentally, my wife and I moved last year from Europe to Indonesia, an extremely rich archipelago of over 17,000 islands regarded by Q-Graders as one of the best producers of natural coffees in the world…with unique aromatic and spiced coffee beans from Sumatra to Papua through Java, Sulawesi and Bali…a million lightyears from the capsules from the same origin for well-known coffee machines in the Western world!)

2. Food

When it comes to food, given the choice, what option would you prefer, and why?

A quick snack prepared by a vending machine after simply pressing a couple of buttons?

Or a delicious homemade pizza prepared by a highly-skilled professional pizzaiolo who carefully handmade the dough, used the best natural ingredients, and who has years of expertise working hard at his craft to bring you the finest produce from his farm to your table?

(Actually, in 2019, my wife and I had the opportunity to enjoy an unforgettable holiday trip to Tuscany where I could fulfill 2 of my culinary dreams: being taught by an Italian nonna how to make several handmade melt-in-your-mouth traditional pasta dishes and learning from a professional pizzaiolo with 30 years of experience how to master the art of delicious homemade fresh pizza. I can confirm I have not bought a machine-made frozen pizza ever since and I love making homemade fresh pasta and pizzas for friends and family.)

But back to AI, we keep hearing and reading many questions such as…

“Is the issue now AI vs human interpreters?”

“Or should it be AI with human interpreters?”

“Is AI going to replace human interpreters?”

“Is AI going to be the language solution of the future?”

Perhaps the question that we should be asking ourselves is none of the above.

“AI interpreting” is being sold as a language solution, but…is it?

The question we should be asking ourselves is…

“Why is ‘AI interpreting’ being sold as a solution?”

Is it because the “AI interpreting” sellers are thinking about their clients, their clients’ business growth and the best option for their clients’ language needs?

Or is it because the “AI interpreting” sellers are really thinking about themselves, their own business growth and the best option to sell their product?

On the year that marks the 80^th anniversary of the birth of simultaneous interpreting at the infamous Nuremberg Trials of the Nazi criminals for crimes against humanity, could we perhaps also ask ourselves…why is it that after 80 years of major technological advancements our beloved profession has remained practically unchanged since 1945 with the essential key players still being human intelligence and human interpreters?

This is a fascinating topic worthy of another article.

But perhaps by now you are wondering…

“Why is Rubén writing this article?”

The answer?

As follows…

A few weeks ago, I interpreted in the Spanish booth (along with my fellow professional booth mate) a one-week long conference for an international diplomacy organisation. The lady who chairs this high-profile international diplomacy organisation concluded her closing remarks on the last day with the following words.

Quote:

“Before we conclude our conference, I’d like to mention that this week we have been testing the AI interpreting option for the German language and let me tell you what an absolute disaster the AI interpretation has proved to be. We would like to express our thanks to all our interpreters in all the other booths for accompanying us this week, for their language skills, dedication, hard work and professionalism. After this week, we will continue choosing human interpreters over AI for all our conferences. Thank you very much to all our human interpreters for your work behind the scenes to translate our conference into so many languages.”

Her words. Not mine. I will never forget them.

When it comes to coffee and food, personally, I know very clearly how much I am willing to pay and to whom.

I don’t want a quick product.

I want a memorable experience.

What about you?

When it comes to your technology keynote, business meeting, sports’ press conference, marketing event, cultural gala, medical convention, international congress or high-stakes diplomacy summit, given the choice, what option would you prefer, and why?

A machine or a highly-skilled seasoned professional who has years of expertise working hard at his craft?

The cheapest option or the best language solution for you and your business?

A product or a memorable experience?

How much are you willing to pay and how much are you willing to sacrifice?

Do you need a bespoke language solution to take your business global?

Let’s connect for a free consultation meeting to help you find the best language solution for you, your business and your multilingual event.

Let’s talk…between humans.