{"id":3273,"date":"2017-11-30T06:50:02","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T11:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.imperialcrs.com\/blog\/?p=3273"},"modified":"2023-12-13T05:50:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T05:50:09","slug":"translation-agencies-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imperialcrs.com\/blog\/business-insights\/translation-agencies-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Translation Agencies \u2013 Will the Future Need Us?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Returning from the Association of Translation Companies\u00a0(ATC) Language Industries Summit 2017, I reflected on an emerging theme that threaded across the presentations and discussion topics.<\/p>\n

Like the gas lamplighters of the 1800s, whose numbers dwindled as electricity gradually eliminated the need for most of them (save those who care for the last 1,500 gas lamps in London), will translators and agencies eventually be replaced by Star Trek\u2019s Universal Translator?<\/p>\n

The answer I came home with is perhaps, someday\u2026 but not today.<\/p>\n

Emerging technologies are indeed making amazing strides. The computers we use are capable of replicating our actions with more precision and are able to predict what we\u2019re going to do faster than we can figure out what we want for lunch.<\/p>\n

However, our needs around language are more complicated than \u201cget this translated.\u201d When I think of the last few projects I\u2019ve managed, I was needed for much more than just getting the text into another language.<\/p>\n

I was needed over the course of the project to answer questions like:<\/p>\n