CIOL CEO John Worne writes: 

It was my privilege to open our Translators Day in London last week, kicking off the CIOL Conference Season for 2025. Here's what I said on the day: 

To begin, a few thoughts and observations from me on where we find ourselves as linguists, language professionals and in particular as translators in 2025.

Arguably the biggest, and certainly the most transformative, challenge we face comes from the continued advancement and integration of AI in translation processes - building upon the already well-established use of Machine Translation.

As we highlight in AI Voices, we increasingly recognise that AI is not a battle to win nor a technology we can ban – but it is a capability and context we need to help shape as language professionals.

And as linguists, we're well positioned to do so since AI is built on what we do best – namely languages.

• Just as one example, the expertise of linguists is invaluable in highlighting and addressing AI bias. We know that Generative AI and Large Language Models can perpetuate and amplify societal biases present in their training data.

• We also know that the data used to train them is dominated by English, and as we are well placed to know, AI does a much much poorer job in less well-resourced languages – which includes dozens and dozens of languages which matter enormously to communities in the UK, and of course are the bedrock of cultures around the world.

• For us it’s obvious that AI's best use is not in replacing human linguists but in augmenting our capabilities. The hope is that utilising these tools effectively, we can shift more of our focus onto the higher-order tasks that require real cultural understanding, where humans remain irreplaceable: context, nuance, humor, creativity, sensitivity, and artistry.

• And at the same time there will always be demand for precision, accuracy and personal accountability: in Certified Translation, and for legal, contractual, governmental and public service contexts. And we need to keep underlining this. AI is not accountable, people are.

Client Behaviour, Remuneration & Market Shifts

The second major challenge comes from client behavior, remuneration methods, and market shifts.

• The translation industry continues to grow significantly, with increasing volumes of content requiring translation globally, but the way that comes to us is changing all the time.

• We've heard before at CIOL Conferences that direct client work, specialisation and diversification are important responses that many CIOL members have adopted, and we expect these strategies will continue to be important for ongoing success in a tough market.

• We’ll hear more examples from speakers today of how this works for them.

Language Skills and Language Professionals Still Aren't Sufficently Valued 

The last big challenge - particularly in the UK - is that language skills and language professionals still aren't valued sufficiently.

• Cuts in UK universities continue. with language provision often in the firing line.

• And while there is some work going into improving language uptake at school level, there is still a long way to go - especially in supporting UK Home, Heritage and Community Languages in schools and in Further Education.

And let’s not forget the long-term impacts of Brexit which continue to create obstacles to trade, cultural and linguistic exchange in lots of different ways – and that’s before we even start on what’s happening in the USA...

Advocacy

So, what is CIOL doing about these challenges?

• We continue our work as the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Modern Languages, advocating forcefully for languages in the UK.
• We have maintained our engagement with UK Government and the UK Parliament explaining and advocating for the importance and value of qualified language professionals.
• We collaborate closely with other professional bodies, ITI, ATC, NRPSI and educational stakeholders like the British Academy and British Council to coordinate our work on standards, quality and advocacy for languages.
• And as set out in AI Voices 2025, we continue to seek to educate and inform the debate on the use of AI in translation and interpreting, helping to shape expectations and highlight the risks in how these technologies are deployed in professional settings.

​CIOL's Offer 

In terms of our own offerings:  

• We continue to provide free membership for language students - including those studying for translation Master's to acknowledge the cost of living challenges for early career linguists.
• The CIOL Certificate in Translation is enabling more people to develop and demonstrate their translation skills in their work for international organisations and as translators. And the DipTrans continues to set the standard for professional translation skills.
• Our CIOL Language Level Assessments and CIOL Certified English help second language speakers test and understand their proficiency, benchmarking against working and professional levels.
• And we've expanded our publications, resources, and CIOL Voices blogs, focusing particularly on how translators can effectively navigate the AI landscape while maintaining their professional standards.
• And finally thanks to our dedicated editor and Editorial Board, The Linguist continues to be an essential resource and a great read for all language professionals and lovers of languages!

We are a smaller staff team at CIOL following the adjustments of recent years. And we're navigating the same market and economic challenges as everyone in this room; we share your concerns.

But we remain deeply committed to our work for languages, and we firmly believe in the enduring importance and value of translators and all linguists.

In summary

As CIOL Council Member Mark Robinson noted in AI Voices 2025:

“Our core language skills and cultural understanding are our superpowers as professional linguists, and that isn't changing.”

So, we will continue to use our national and international profile, our stakeholder relationships, the expertise of CIOL Council and the strength of our partnerships to advocate for languages, for translators, and for linguists more broadly.

Image Stella Hodkin LinkedIn