Professor Wang Lisong Lectures on “Translation and Technology”

On November 22, 2019, Professor Wang Lisong from the School of Foreign Languages and Literature gave a lecture entitled “Translation and Technology” to undergraduates of English Department and MTI students. There were about 150 undergraduates and postgraduates attending the lecture.

At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Wang proposed that technology plays an important role in driving the language service innovation in the era of artificial intelligence. He pointed out that the cognitive ability of artificial intelligence based on deep-learning is constantly improving, and it can be combined with different industries, providing purchasable smart services. The rapid outbreak of artificial intelligence exerts a huge impact on many labor-intensive industries, with the emerging of the technology-centric theory and the technology substitution theory. In this regard, Professor Wang put forward that students of language departments do not need to be afraid of technology, but should take advantages of this opportunity to promote the sustainable and healthy development of language services.

Then Professor Wang made a profound analysis of the development trends of modern translation technology. Nowadays, the teaching of translation majors has a lot of disadvantages, and the demand for translation localization is increasing. Therefore, the effect of translation technology is increasingly prominent. Professor Wang took an example of the application of translation technology and speech recognition technology for translation industry to emphasize the importance of translation technology in the present era. Meanwhile, he pointed out that translation is a creative activity. Machine translation is fallible in complex situations, cultural information process and translation of literary works and cannot replace artificial translation yet.

Professor Wang also conducted an in-depth discussion on the ability and training of translation technology. At present, the market share of translation has gradually narrowed, and new translation industries such as videos, websites and software have emerged. The market and text types have become increasingly diversified, and the requirement for the ability of translation localization has gradually increased. By analyzing the requirements of translation technology curriculums of foreign universities and the qualifications of domestic interpreters and translators, Professor Wang put forward his hopes that the translators of the new era could have profound bilingual translation and cross-cultural communication abilities, efficient information acquisition and technology application capabilities, as well as extensive cross-industry knowledge and teamwork communication skills.

Professor Wang’s lecture was featured with explicit points, vivid examples and substantial content, broadening the horizons of students and deepening students’ understanding of translation technology.

By the School of Foreign Languages and Literature

Editor: Eva Yin