In conjunction with the International Translation Day,
The National Library and Archives Organizes a Symposium on Human Translation and Artificial Intelligence

The National Library and Archives organized a symposium titled “Human Translation and Artificial Intelligence: Toward a Shared Future”, in conjunction with the world’s celebration of International Translation Day. The symposium aimed to broaden the horizons of constructive dialogue and promote the exchange of expertise and knowledge in this vital and evolving field.
The symposium highlighted the importance of translation in building bridges of communication among nations and promoting mutual understanding and rapprochement of Cultures. It also underscored the United Arab Emirates’ status as a leading regional model in supporting the translation movement as part of its cultural and knowledge strategy. Additionally, the symposium reviewed the prominent role of the National Library and Archives in this field through its organization of the Annual International Translation Conference, which serves as a pioneering platform that integrates language, technology, and knowledge, opening new horizons for the future of translation in the Arab world and reinforcing the UAE’s leading role in the production and dissemination of knowledge.
The symposium featured participants from the National Library and Archives, including Professor Dr. Saddik Gouhar, Translation Expert, and Mrs. Aysha Al Dhaheri, Head of Translation and Publication Section, along with a number of translators. Participants discussed the latest trends and key challenges in translation, emphasizing the importance of the advantages offered by the artificial intelligence technologies, such as fast completion of translations, reduced costs, multilingual capabilities, continuous learning, and support for professional translators through the development of specialized linguistic pathways – while stressing the importance of maintaining privacy and data confidentiality.
The symposium also addressed the challenges associated with the use of machine translation, particularly when dealing with historical, religious and cultural texts. These challenges include inaccuracies in conveying context, loss of cultural nuance, literal and stylistic errors, privacy risks, mishandling of sensitive matters, and the absence of literary creativity, tone, and style, as well as challenges related to linguistic consistency and the ethical responsibilities of translators.
The symposium was attended by His Excellency Dr. Abdulla Majid Al Ali, Director General of the National Library and Archives, and Mr. Hamad Al Hamiri, Director of Research and Knowledge Services Department. Both participated in discussing the symposium’s themes and presenting the best professional practices in translation, emphasizing the importance of establishing clear professional and ethical standards, using machine translation as an initial draft, utilizing specialized terminologies and dictionaries, and translating specialized texts in parts to ensure the quality of the final output.
The symposium concluded by reaffirming the importance of balancing between leveraging modern technologies and preserving the cultural and literary accuracy of texts, as a means of advancing the translation sector and enhancing its role in the transfer and localization of knowledge.
It is noteworthy that the National Library and Archives, as part of its projects in the field of AI, has launched a transcription and translation system, including a module for translating written texts, which has effective tools that support the work of researchers and historians.