[GALA Valencia 2024] Soapbox: Dave Bryant, Alessandra Binazzi, Konstantin Savenkov

1) "The Price is Right - or is it?" - Dave Bryant (Solutions Architect | Braahmam)

We all believe that we should be paid a living wage for our work. Few people disagree with that sentiment. However, if you have a person living in Vietnam and another living in New York City doing exactly the same work, should they be paid the same amount? If you can get the same work done for 1/3 of the price and get the same quality, why wouldn't you do it.? All clients, whether they are end-users or LSPs want to pay the minimum, so does that mean that all translators should move to a low-cost-of-living location and only come home to hone their language skills?

Capitalism at its most stark. Discuss!

2) "What's AI got to do with it?" - Alessandra Binazzi (Globalization Strategy Consultant | Alessandra Binazzi Consulting)

AI and GenAI are monopolizing the headlines and everyone's attention. In localization the excitement is sky high with the realization that this technology can revolutionize the way we work. Acknowledging the current focus on AI in areas such as target content generation, Machine Translation Quality Estimation (MT QE), and automated post-editing, the soap box critically examines the persistent challenges that have eluded effective solutions. Specifically, issues like in-context translation and review, in-country reviews, and sentence-level segmentation have remained unsolved and overlooked.

We will reflect on why the localization sector has not actively pursued AI-driven solutions for these enduring pain points. By questioning prevailing trends and underscoring unaddressed complexities, we aim to initiate contemplation regarding the role of AI in grappling with persistent challenges.

3) "Break the Segment Chains and Set the Language Free" - Konstantin Savenkov (CEO | Intento, Inc.)

Segmenting content and maintaining the alignment through the localization workflows was important in the early days of CAT tools and TMS. Its importance is diminishing with better technologies available. Moreover, working on a segment basis is becoming a major performance and quality bottleneck for cutting-edge technologies, including advanced Machine Translation and Generative AI. We can't see the language for the segments! Let's set the language free, get rid of the segments, and live happily ever after!

Host organization: Globalization and Localization Association