Technology for training in conference interpreting

The interpreting profession has been constantly evolving due to technological advances. New interpreting modes, such as simultaneous and distance interpreting, have been made possible thanks to IT achievements. Further technological advances have ushered in computer-assisted interpreting (CAI) tools, which interpreting professionals and trainees alike have had to become conversant with, in order to exploit technological affordances to their full. Over the years, IT developments and interpreter training and education have also evolved in parallel. This evolution has been inspired by interpreter educators, trained interpreters, and researchers and has resulted in what has come to be known as ‘computer-assisted interpreter training’ (CAIT) tools. This chapter will provide an overview of technological developments alongside their applications in training. It will begin by looking at how the technology evolved during the late 1990s and will focus on two CAIT tools which were conceived at the Department of Interpreting and Translation of the University of Bologna at Forlì. These tools allow for peer-to-peer online interpreting practice (InTrain) and for online interpreter training, admission tests, and in-training assessment (‘ReBooth’). Furthermore, it will report on an EU-funded ASR- and AI-enhanced CAI tool, SmarTerp, whose first release was tested in an educational setting. The authors will highlight how such tools assist and are used by trainers and trainees when practising and honing their skills, as well as their perceived user-friendliness. In light of the impact that IT and AI have on interpreting trainees – the future generation of interpreters – this chapter will conclude by emphasising the need to include training in CAI and CAIT tools, alongside soft skills training, in interpreting curricula.