Some thoughts on AI

Do you see AI as an accelerator or a risk for your international communications?

This was the question explored by AATC members Alice Rabl and Anita Wilson during their presentation at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber’s (WKO) Export Day 2026 in Vienna. Their key takeaways:

• Translators and language service providers have been working with a wide range of technological tools since the 1990s. AI is the latest addition to that toolkit.
• What is different now is that the technology is no longer industry-specific but readily accessible to the mass market.
• And that is precisely where the challenges lie: what appears easy to use and delivers seemingly good results within seconds can create issues that companies need to understand and address.
• Risks related to copyright issues, data protection, liability, resource consumption and, not least, AI hallucinations need to be carefully considered and assessed.
• Professional translation agencies help companies determine which type of AI workflow can be used successfully in which particular use case.
• And yes, there are still scenarios in which human translation has its place – and can even be more efficient and cost-effective than using AI. 💁

📽️ The presentation also featured the world premiere of AATC’s new video, Promptasia. This engaging explainer video, which focuses on the use of AI in translation processes, highlights in a charming and accessible way the pitfalls that can arise when AI is used in translation without proper oversight.