Every two years, the world’s attention is centered around the Summer and Winter Olympic games. Since the debut of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, these competitions have showcased the very best of humanity’s athletic achievement. Because of the multinational nature of these events, interpreting and translation services play an important role in the logistical planning of the Games. The nature of these services has changed over the years. While conventional interpreting services are still used, there has been an ongoing shift to use more cutting-edge AI and machine translation.
The First Interpreting Services At The Games
In previous Olympic Games, most of the language interpreting was performed in the traditional way. While communication technology has drastically improved over the years, the modes of interpreting have generally remained the same. For the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics, many different types of interpreters were hired; interpreters with more professional experience were hired for simultaneous interpretation and consecutive interpreting. In addition, conference interpreters were used for press conferences after events, medal ceremonies, and other official proceedings. Hundreds of volunteers were used as liaison interpreters, helping athletes and staff in day-to-day activities. At the 2016 Rio Games, thousands of volunteers were hired to help in a similar way. These volunteer interpreters were vital to the overall effort to make the Games run smoothly.
The Changing Face Of Interpreting Services At The Olympics
While the main professional interpreting services were present at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the currently ongoing 2022 Beijing Olympics, AI and machine interpreting are playing an increasingly larger role. In the last few years, software companies have been working on developing better systems and platforms for machine translation and remote interpreting services. Japanese tech giant Panasonic teamed up with an accelerator, 100BANCH, to create a prototype AI translator, called the “Fukidashi”. This iPad-like device provides simultaneous interpreting for users. While not implemented on a widespread level, these devices helped bridge language barriers for athletes, staff, and visitors to Tokyo.
Interpreting Services at the 2022 Winter Olympics
In Beijing, automated translation is being taken to a new level. iFLYTEK, a Chinese translation service company, was designated as the official translator of the Games. It is telling that this designation was not given to a standard interpreting company, but rather to a company that specializes in voice recognition and AI translation/interpreting. For the 2022 games, iFLYTEK debuted its AI news anchor, “Xiaoqing”, to help with translations. Xiaoqing provides translations in five different languages and can transition between them in real-time. The use of AI and machine interpreting is all but assured in future Olympic Games as the technology becomes more advanced and reliable.
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