The panel “Beyond CTRL+C: Transcreation and Technology,” organized by the Department of English, French Translation and Interpreting (TRIN), brought together translators, academics and publishing professionals to examine the future of the translation profession, the role of creativity and the rising influence of new technologies.
Speakers stressed that translation is not just a technical task but a cultural and intuitive craft. Ebru Erbaş expressed support for the use of technological tools while underscoring the need to protect the quality and visibility of human translation. Kadir Yiğit Us outlined current technologies—machine translation, translation memories, terminology databases and large language models—arguing that while they aid preparation and analysis, they fall short in the face of human creativity.
Sefa Emre İlikli noted that today’s systems merely reproduce patterns from existing data, which can flatten cultural nuance and threaten linguistic diversity. Bahadırhan Bozkurt emphasized the artistic nature of rewriting a work for a new language and period, adding that machine translation disrupts the creative process that many translators find deeply rewarding.
Discussions also touched on the demands of transcreation, the importance of cultural knowledge and evolving professional strategies. Participants agreed that translators will take on specialized editorial roles increasingly, with technologies serving as tools that must be used critically and responsibly. The session closed with a clear message: “It is not technology but the organization of human labor that will shape the future of translation.”
