With the rise of AI and other disruptive technologies transforming the modern workplace, the energy and flexibility of young people can only be a huge advantage and a rich source of skills and knowledge.
With this in mind, on Friday 11 April, we had the privilege of hosting a group of talented students from the University of the Upper Alsace (Université de Haute Alsace) at our Luxembourg premises. They visited to learn about our work, our journey and how we combine human expertise with the power of AI to deliver a wide range of services to our EU partners.
AI is a revolution, and nowhere is this more evident than in the language services industry. Translation has become ubiquitous in a world in which people can obtain instant gist translations of articles or websites at the click of a button. This raises the everyday visibility and importance of translation, but also brings with it an awareness that this level of translation cannot be compared with the quality achieved by experienced human linguistic experts.
This is the tricky tightrope younger people will need to walk: balancing the expectations of the modern world for delivering results efficiently, at pace and at scale, whilst at the same time maintaining a keen eye on quality and accuracy. In an era where accurate and reliable information is paramount, ensuring that texts continue to fulfil this brief is the job of language professionals. Further investment and development in AI-based technologies will be called for, but also an open and curious mindset, and an ability to work well with others creatively to seek out new answers to the new questions that will arise.
At the Translation Centre, we are mindful of the importance of sharing our expertise with younger people so they can take on our insights, adapt them to the evolving landscape and shape their own futures – as well as that of the industry.
Our collaboration with the Université de Haute Alsace is not new. In both 2023 and 2024, we partnered with UHA’s master’s translation programme students on a ‘real-life translation’ project, which formed part of the students’ assessment. Professional French language translators from the Translation Centre provided feedback on the work of the students, who collaborated in teams to deliver specialist translations for clients within tight deadlines. This experience proved to be both energising and insightful for all involved.
The UHA students we met on Friday were clearly passionate about pursuing careers in language services and eager to learn how we’re adapting to AI advancements to enhance quality and efficiency. Their questions, curiosity and expectations also gave us an opportunity to reflect on our practices. We hope they enjoyed the exchange as much as we did, and we look forward to repeating the experience in the future.