Translator Education at a Crossroads:the Impact of Automation

Abstract Automation is affecting all spheres of our daily lives and humans are adapting both to the challenges that it poses and the benefits that it brings. The translation profession has also experienced the impact of new technologies with Language Service Providers adapting to changes (Presas/Cid-Leal/Torres-Hostench 2016; Sakamoto/Rodríguez de Céspedes/Evans/Berthaud 2017). Translation trainers are not oblivious to this phenomenon. There have indeed been efforts to incorporate the teaching of digital translation tools and new technologies in the translation classroom (Doherty/Kenny/Way 2012; Doherty/Moorkens 2013; Austermühl 2013; O’Hagan 2013; Gaspari/Almaghout/Doherty 2015; Moorkens 2017) and many translation programmes in Europe are adapting their curricula to incorporate this necessary technological competence (Rothwell/Svoboda 2017). This paper reflects on the impact that automation and, more specifically machine translation and computer assisted tools, have and will have on the future training of translators and on the balance given by translation companies to language and technological skills.