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6:30 PM-8:00 PM, BST

AI Translation Slam 2025: Beyond the Binary

Presentation and Discussion | Human vs. Machine (French and German)

  • Goethe-Institut London, London

  • English
  • Tickets £6, £3 for language students & library members

AI Translation Slam 2025 © GI London

AI Translation Slam 2025 © GI London

Join us for our AI Translation Slam 2025, which pitches the creative forces of literary translation by humans against AI translation tools.

This year, our focus will be on the translation of gender sensitive language. What can we learn about the strength and limitations of human translators and AI translation tools when considering issues such as:
  • the gender identity of authors, narrators and protagonists;
  • transgender and non-binary thematic concerns;
  • gender bias and stereotypes;
  • the differences between German and French when it comes to gender identity linguistic characteristics?
You will witness two experienced literary translators, Rebecca DeWald and Jo Heinrich, compete with machine translation systems like ChatGPT, expertly operated by digital transformation expert Jason Sprague. After each round of texts, the audience gets to contribute their comments and questions on who translated it better – the humans or the machines?

The event will be moderated by Christophe Fricker and is a collaboration between Goethe-Institut London and the Institut français du Royame-Uni. It is supported by the Franco-German Culture Fund and is part of English PEN's programme of events to mark International Translation Day 2025.
 

Book tickets via Eventbrite

 

Short Biographies

Jason Sprague has over 25 years of experience in technology, machine learning, and internationalisation of software. A keen student of languages, he frequently wrestles with machine translations of Armenian, choosing typing convenience over painstakingly slow handwriting.
Jason collaborated with ChatGPT to produce this biography.

Rebecca DeWald is a bilingual translator with a PhD in Translation from the University of Glasgow, working with English, German, French and occasionally Spanish. She coordinates the Emerging Translator Mentorships Programme at the National Centre for Writing in Norwich, and co-runs the Translators' Stammtisch and the In Their Own Words reading group at the Goethe-Institut Glasgow. Rebecca also co-manages writing residencies at Kalewater Cottage Creative Retreat in the Scottish Borders.

Christophe Fricker is a literary translator and teaches the MA in Translation course at the University of Bristol.

Jo Heinrich translates from German and French. Her translation of Katja Oskamp’s Marzahn, Mon Amour won the 2023 Dublin Literary Award. She has also co-translated Angela Merkel’s memoirs Freedom. In her commercial translation work, she has seen enough machine translations and AI output (‘vegan handbag, made from genuine leather’, anyone?!) to suggest it might be worth being brave enough to try a head-to-head against AI.

Related links

Deutsch-Französischer Kulturfonds

  • Deutsch-Französischer Kulturfonds