2020 rings in a new decade after we have seen an unarguably turbulent one. The advancements in tech and AI have literally caused a disruption in our industry and both humans and machines are settling into their new places along the “value chain”.

In this session, the hosts of the Translation Mastermind Summit Tanya Quintieri and Andrew Morris will sit down at the virtual roundtable with industry celebrity Henry Líu to discuss the future of our profession and the industry in general.

Henry is often associated with provocative and lightning-pace visionary keynotes and we will find out what his visions and predications for the future of our profession are. Is there anything we should be fearing? What happens if we don’t accept the fact that technological innovations will reshape our profession? How far will digitalization and automation penetrate into our work routines? How are interpreters affected by “machines” that have long learned to speak and can process information much faster than the human brain? Or can they? Will we have to find new roles within our means to “make it” as freelance language service providers? Will being a translator even mean anything by the end of this decade as he boldly questioned in Budapest in 2017, or will this decade turn out be THE golden 20s for translators around the globe?

Also, what about the roles that associations and other organizations play in this time flux? How can a single translator or interpreter make an impact?

About Henry

Henry is a champion for translators, interpreters and terminologists worldwide.

A highly respected consultant interpreter for heads of states, trade and diplomatic missions, Henry is also a published translator of poetry, plays and operas. Most people will know Henry as a seasoned provocative keynote speaker in Oceania, North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa with particular emphasis on branding and visibility.

An opinionated advocate of professorial organisations and a strong believer in trans-national and multidisciplinary co-operation, Henry was elected 13th President of the International Federation of Translators (FIT), an NGO with consultative status with UNESCO, ECOSOC and WIPO, and was instrumental in the adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution 71/288 in recognition of the role of professional translation in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development, as well as the worldwide recognition of 30th September as International Translation Day (ITD).

You can follow Henry on Twitter and Instagram, or even listen into two interesting radio interviews he gave Radio New Zealand: Wrong Interpretations (2015) and The Craft Of Translation And Interpretation (2019).