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n late September, more than 30 translation and localization professionals met for the Toronto Localization Unconference at the downtown headquarters of Achievers, an employee recognition software company that kindly donated its beautiful meeting room for the second year in a row. Coffee and lunch for the participants was sponsored by the Canadian Language Industry Association.
Typically, Unconference participants are very experienced, but the group is always spiced with a sprinkling of industry newbies who want to find out what they have gotten themselves into. Although most participants are local to the greater Toronto area, a few came from Ottawa, Montréal, and even as far away as New York, California, and Texas.
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Co-organized and co-moderated by Oleks Pysaryuk and Richard Sikes since 2013, the Unconference is minimally structured. After a round of introductions, participants brainstorm discussion topics, which are captured on a whiteboard. Then, there is a communal vote on the topics to prioritize them. Richard and Oleks keep the discussions focused while energy lasts, and decide when to move on to the next topic.
This year, the hottest topic areas explored various angles of how to chart a career in the translation industry in the face of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI). This subject was, of course, no great surprise, as it seems to be on everyone’s mind. Subtopics in this theme were: what we actually mean by AI, the future role of the translator, how we can get ahead of AI, and how we can avoid losing our jobs. We also discussed how to grow outside of our current skills box, as well as the ideal balance between automation and human-in-the-loop activity.
There was a palpable mood of existential angst pervading this small slice of industry participants, at least within the context of the industry in its traditional sense. But there was also a cautiously growing sense of optimism that, for those participants who are ready to embrace change and reinvent themselves, career opportunities will continue to be found.
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One topic that promoted intense discussion was the need for more terminologists, especially in light of the need to provide more guidance on the creation of AI-generated content. There was a lament about the dearth of trained terminology experts and some discussion about the personality attributes and educational backgrounds that constitute preparation to become an excellent terminologist. One might have come away from that discussion thinking that terminologists are born, not made!
After a full day of intense idea exchange, most participants reported feeling that their brains were gratifyingly fried! Feedback after the Unconference — expressed primarily on LinkedIn but also in some personal emails — was very positive. Oleks and Richard are already looking forward to next year’s event!
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