Explaining how Professional Interpretation and AI solutions each handle multilingual communication
Professional conference interpreters and AI solutions both offer powerful ways to support multilingual communication, each with unique strengths and limitations.
This guide outlines how they differ in practice so event organisers can make informed decisions and set clear expectations for their events.
Interpreters translate meaning — AI solutions translate more literally
AI solutions excel at recognising and translating spoken words, and can sometimes produce a more literal translation that could distort meaning.
Interpreters prioritise conveying the message, intent, and nuance — even if this means adjusting phrasing to make sense in the target language.
Example
Speaker: “This project was a rollercoaster, but we pulled through.”
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AI: May translate “rollercoaster” literally, which may not make sense in another language.
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Interpreter: “It was a difficult project, but we succeeded.”
Interpreters deliver natural-sounding speech — AI solutions repeat everything
Interpreters may summarise speech to keep a natural pace in the target language by removing filler words, repetitions, or false starts, producing clear and natural sounding sentences.
AI solutions retain every spoken word when generating a transcript, including repetitions and self‑corrections, which may lead to a faster pace.
Example
Speaker: “So, what I’m trying to to to say is… basically… maybe we should start eeer start earlier…”
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Interpreter: “Maybe we should start earlier.”
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AI: “So, what I’m trying to to to say is… basically… maybe we should start start earlier…”
Interpreters use context — AI solutions need clean audio
Accuracy of AI solutions depend heavily on clear sound quality, stable internet connection, and minimal background noise.
Interpreters use context and expertise to compensate in case of brief sound inconsistencies for example when a speaker turns away from the microphone for a second.
Example
Speaker: “We shipped the new batch yesterday.”
Affected by connection issue sounds like: “We ship… the new bat… yes…day”
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AI: “We ship the new bat yes day.”
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Interpreter: “We shipped the new batch yesterday.”
Interpreters need materials — AI solutions need data
Both interpreters and AI benefit from preparation, but in different ways.
Interpreters rely on contextual materials — presentations, scripts, reports, or videos — to anticipate terminology, tone, and intent. This enables them to interpret accurately even when speech is unclear or incomplete.
AI solutions rely on data from Custom Vocabulary feature, including non-standard names (e.g., people, brands, acronyms), to improve recognition accuracy. Without these inputs, AI may misrecognise unfamiliar terms.
Example
Speaker: “Thanks to the RXL-400 team at Novantiq for delivering Project Helios on time.”
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Interpreter: With preparation materials, they will translate correctly. If in doubt, they may safely generalise to ensure sentence is correct: “Thanks to the RXL-400 team at Novantiq for delivering this project on time.”
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AI: Without Custom Vocabulary, output may include errors: “Thanks to the are XL4 hundred team at nova antic for delivering project hello on time.”
Both solutions play vital roles in multilingual events
Professional interpreters and AI solutions both offer important benefits in multilingual events:
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Interpreters provide contextual understanding, nuance, and natural-sounding speech delivery.
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AI solutions offer speed, flexibility, and consistency especially in prolonged sessions.
It’s important to remember that performance can vary — both for interpreters and AI solutions. Even highly skilled interpreters may find prolonged and demanding sessions challenging. Similarly, AI solutions deliver their best results when audio quality is adequate and terminology is predictable.
By understanding how each solution operates, organisers can choose the approach — or combine solutions — to best fit their event needs.
Interprefy can help you choose and combine the right solutions to match your event goals.
Whether you are planning to work with professional interpreters, AI solutions, or a mix of both, our team is here to provide guidance, technical expertise, and best-practice recommendations to ensure the best multilingual experience for all participants.