The Technologisation of Interpreting

Over the past decade, interpreting has entered a decisive phase of technologisation, with digital and intelligent systems increasingly mediating preparation, delivery, and post-event reflection. This chapter offers a user-centred road map of this transformation, tracing how successive waves of innovation—from early digitalisation to AI-augmented collaboration—have redefined interpreters’ professional practice, cognitive processes, and ethical responsibilities. The first section retraces the historical trajectory, from the digitisation of resources to the emergence of computer-assisted interpreting (CAI) tools, showing how technological mediation became embedded in interpreters’ routines and reshaped the very notion of professional expertise. The next section explores how contemporary systems increasingly simulate the interpreting experience, addressing technical constraints, quality evaluation, and the human-in-the-loop paradigm that preserves human agency and interpretive control. The discussion then turns to the cline of human-machine collaboration, analysing how AI-augmented workflows, ergonomic design, and adaptive competence interact to sustain cognitive balance and professional authority. The final section situates these developments within the broader interpreting ecosystem, examining the potentials and constraints of artificial intelligence, the ethical and governance frameworks guiding its deployment, and the industry and research trends likely to shape the next decade. Adopting a reflective and forward-looking stance, the chapter conceptualises AI not as a substitute for human expertise but as an assistive intelligence that amplifies it—enhancing human performance while demanding new forms of accountability, transparency, and trust. Ultimately, it positions interpreting as a profession at the frontier of AI-mediated communication, defined by the synergy of technological innovation, ethical governance, and human interpretive agency.