Translation Agency of Canada Asserts Itself at the Annual OTTIAQ Congress 2024

On November 8, 2024, Translation Agency of Canada's President Igor Isaev and Head of B2B Department Alexandra Sevastyanova participated in the annual OTTIAQ conference, which brought together several hundred professional linguists, students, and other experts in the field of translation, terminology, and interpreting.

This flagship event in Montreal brought together hundreds of experts under the theme, "The added value of our professions... an asset to be promoted!" exploring the vital role of human expertise in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

The conference's workshops broadly discussed the risks of over-relying on AI for language translation. The consensus was that AI is just another tool for translators to help them work faster and more productively. For years, translators have used machine translation systems such as Google Translate and CAT technologies like Trados, MemoQ, and Smartcat, but their limitations are widely understood.

In this regard, Joachim Lépine from Lion Translation Academy compared translations to dentist work, stating that if one dentist claims to put the best fillings and another claims to do the same, but their fillings are made using AI to make them better and more accurate, the second dentist wins. AI cannot replace the dentist or a professional translator, but it can improve and accelerate their work.

At our booth, Igor and ​​Alexandra engaged with participants eager to explore the career opportunities that the Translation Agency of Canada offers. On the other hand, having worked with many colleagues mostly remotely, it was a delight to meet them in person finally, debate solutions, and exchange thoughts and smiles.

Versacom, AlexaTranslations, Traducta, the University of Montreal, and others sponsored the event.