Marking a milestone: ITI at 40

Writing an article to herald the start of ITI’s 40^th anniversary year in 2026 is a significant responsibility, especially for someone who came into the translation and interpreting industry barely two and a half years ago. Yet this relative newness brings a particular value: I can reflect on the profession and our institute with some objectivity, without the weight of four decades of history shaping my perspective.

However, it’s probably fair to say that the industry as it is today bears little resemblance to what it was when ITI was established in 1986. The terms translation and interpreting may no longer serve as a neat description of what our members actually do. Instead, the profession has become layered, contradictory and complex, and the language services market is now characterised by disruption and uncertainty. Against this backdrop, what relevance does a professional body hold in a landscape that has been fundamentally transformed by technology, globalisation, and changing attitudes towards language services?

Our role as trusted advisors

Our greatest assets are our commitment to professionalism and ethics, and our #ITIcommunity. These assets position us uniquely as a trusted source of advice and guidance for translation buyers and the public. In a landscape where machine translation and artificial intelligence have transformed how language tasks are done, clients need independent, credible advice. They need to understand the implications of different technological approaches, the risks and benefits, and how to work with language professionals who understand these technologies deeply. This is where we provide our unique value. We can help clients make informed decisions about how language services are delivered. We can explain why professional standards matter. And we can demonstrate why human expertise, working alongside technology, remains essential.

To play this role effectively, our members need to be well-informed about the technologies shaping the market. It seems that members’ responses to the ongoing technological change vary considerably, and this diversity of approach is understandable and legitimate. Some embrace artificial intelligence; others have chosen not to engage with it. Many occupy positions somewhere in the middle, experimenting cautiously or taking hybrid approaches.

However, for us to serve as trustworthy advisors to our clients and the public, we all need to have a baseline understanding of the language technologies that are available. This is not about mandating the use of genAI or any other technology. Rather, it is about ensuring that we are able to have informed conversations with our clients about what exists, how it works, what the risks are, and whether it is appropriate for a particular task – or not. Machine translation literacy (to echo Professor Lynne Bowker) is essential both for maintaining the credibility of the profession and for protecting clients’ interests.

So, as we enter our fifth decade, I am asking the ITI community to turn our collective intellect and energy towards reclaiming our rightful place as language experts – the professionals that clients and the public can trust to give them sound, independent advice. This means committing to learning about the technologies that are reshaping the world of business. And it requires us to be advocates as well as linguists. Taking responsibility for building a better future for the profession is not passive. It means directing our energy outwards to educate others about professional standards and to show why investing in professional language services delivers genuine value.

Our support for members

We intend to support this work with tangible actions. We will bring you a different kind of conference that brings the profession together in new ways and facilitates the important conversations we need to have. And our Bulletin will be refreshed to better reflect our members’ needs, interests and voices.

We will also continue to develop guidance on professional ethics and the use of artificial intelligence, as well as creating practical resources such as new model terms of business that address technology use. We are also exploring how to make introductory learning resources on artificial intelligence more accessible to members, and are incorporating technology literacy into our continuing professional development framework.

The translation and interpreting profession has always adapted as circumstances and technologies change. This moment requires that we do so again, with clarity about our value, confidence in our collective future, and commitment to supporting one another. Our 40^th anniversary year is an opportunity to reinvigorate our sense of purpose and to position ourselves as the trusted voice on professional language services for years to come.