22 November 2025 

The School of Translation and Foreign Languages (STFL) hosted the conference “Professional Translation and Language Services in the AI Era: Opportunities and Challenges” on 21-22 November 2025. Held as part of the University’s 45th anniversary celebrations, the conference attracted international scholars, industry professionals and students from the UK, France, Australia, Argentina, Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong. The event provided a valuable platform for collaboration among academia and industry stakeholders.

In his welcome remarks, President Simon Ho highlighted the timeliness of the conference in bringing together leading scholars and practitioners to examine how artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies are reshaping the translation and language services industries amid rapid and far-reaching transformation. Professor Mark Shuttleworth, Dean of STFL, observed that AI-powered tools have evolved from a peripheral interest to a central force shaping the conceptualisation, development and practice of translation and language services. He noted that the conference offered an important forum for diverse perspectives to critically assess current developments and explore future directions in the field.

The conference featured a distinguished lineup of keynote speakers, including Mr Yves Champollion from Wordfast LLC; Professor Ruslan Mitkov from Lancaster University and the University of Alicante; Professor Wang Huashu from Beijing Foreign Studies University; and Dr Zhao Nan from Hong Kong Baptist University. Through keynote addresses and scholarly exchanges, the conference explored the transformative impact of AI, highlighting both challenges and opportunities it presents for the profession in an increasingly technology-driven landscape.