Human vs AI Translation Slam – EUTOPIA Languages Week 2026
The team
- Dr David Orrego-CarmonaLink opens in a new window (Project Lead), Reader, School of Modern Languages & Cultures
- Dr Mélina Delmas, Research Assistant, University of Warwick
The project
The project aimed to hold a “Human vs AI Translation Slam” as part of EUTOPIA Languages Week 2026 (2–6 March) at the University of Warwick. In this public engagement event, a professional human translator and an operator using AI-powered machine translation tools faced each other in a live, timed competition, followed by a facilitated discussion about the capabilities, limitations, and societal implications of AI in language services.
Machine translation and generative AI tools like ChatGPT represent one of the most widespread and accessible applications of AI technology. People use these tools daily for communication, travel, and business, yet public understanding of their capabilities and limitations remains superficial. This event demystifies AI translation by making its processes visible and comparable to human expertise. The event is designed for a mixed audience including students, academics, local businesses, and members of the public. It requires no prior technical knowledge and uses an engaging, slightly competitive format that has proven successful at venues including the British Library, Edinburgh, Cairo, Athens, and Krakow.
Project outcomes
The event took place on Wednesday 4 March 2026 in the FAB Cinema and had 46 attendees, consisting of Warwick staff and students as well as externals. After a welcome and introduction by Dr Orrego-Carmona, three participants took to the stage: the host/moderator (Dr Christophe Fricker, University of Bristol), a professional human translator (Lloyd Bingham), and a machine operator (Martin Percy) who used generative AI and machine translation tools to produce translations in real time. The audience watched both translation processes unfold simultaneously on screen, creating a compelling visual comparison of human expertise and AI capabilities. The format involved two rounds of 10 minutes each, during which both the human translator and machine operator translated the same source text (focused on business or tourism content). After each round, the host facilitated a discussion about what the technology has achieved, where it has struggled, and what this means for professional practice and society more broadly.
Although AI was much faster than the human translator, questions around quality assurance arose, especially if the individual operating the machine is not fluent in the source-text language and only relying on AI.
The discussion also highlighted how the translation profession has changed in the last 15 years alone, even before the era of AI. Nowadays, human translators usually come into play to edit a text after it has already been translated by a machine, rather than at the very beginning of the process. This new process is not as rewarding for professional translators as it involves less creativity, which makes their work less fulfilling overall.
Outputs:
The event was rated 5 out 5 by 57% of survey respondents. 43% gave it a 4 out of 5.
Post by Christophe Fricker: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/christophe-fricker_ai-translation-languagesweek-activity-7439588902736211969-BW55/
Post by Lloyd Bingham: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/capitaltranslations_translation-ugcPost-7438191495704285184-wRYS/
Blogpost by SMLC PGR student:
Human vs AI Live Translation Slam – University of Warwick | School of Modern Languages and Cultures
Enhancing interdisciplinarity
The event supports the dissemination and engagement plans around languages, society and AI. It sits at the intersection of the Digital, Data Science & AI and Business, Manufacturing & Innovation Spotlights, demonstrating how AI engagement can be explored through arts and humanities perspectives. With the support of Paul Savva-Andreou (SMLC Tech Support), we developed a technical setup for live multi-screen translation display in the FAB Cinema, a replicable model for future events. Additionally, the event strengthened links between Warwick (SMLC) and the University of Bristol, with potential for future collaborations with Dr Christophe Fricker on public engagement around AI and language.
