Interdisciplinary Symposium on Machine Translation and Digital Humanities

Interdisciplinary Symposium on Machine Translation and Digital Humanities
22-23 March 2024 (on-site at National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge Campus, Singapore)

With the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), large language models (LLMs), and neural machine translation (NMT), technology has significantly impacted translational communication in various societal contexts spanning languages, cultures, and modalities. NMT systems, exemplified by platforms such as Google Translate and DeepL, have been consistently employed for translating a diverse range of texts across various genres. More recently, LLMs have demonstrated remarkable proficiency in interlingual translation. Incorporating language and translation technologies into the vast landscape of humanities presents distinctive challenges for both academic research and practical implementation, while simultaneously creating numerous opportunities for interdisciplinary research.

This symposium, organized by the Translation and Interpreting Research Group in the Department of Chinese Studies at the National University of Singapore, aims to promote dialogue and cultivate collaboration among researchers in the fields of Translation Studies, Computer Science, and Digital Humanities.

The objectives of this two-day on-site symposium are as follows:

• Explore the application of LLMs and NMT systems in non-technical discourses, such as literary, religious, historical, philosophical, and artistic contexts;
• Facilitate interdisciplinary efforts to assess the quality of LLM-based translation and post-editing in multilingual settings;
• Investigate the socio-cognitive implications of LLM-based and AI-empowered translation technologies.

Keynote Speakers:

• Professor Philipp Koehn, Johns Hopkins University, USA
• Associate Professor Lucas Nunes Vieira, University of Bristol, UK
• Associate Professor Antonio Toral, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
• Dr Tom Kocmi, Senior Researcher, Microsoft
• Mr Sebastian Nehrdich, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• Ms Wan Sie Lee, Director, Development of Data-Driven Tech, IMDA Singapore

Please click here to register to attend the symposium. Please note that some sessions will only be held in-person and will not be available for the online audience. The symposium is free for all participants and presenters.

The full programme for the symposium is available here.

Symposium Convenors
A/P HAN Chao, Chinese Studies, NUS
A/P Marcus BINGENHEIMER, Chinese Studies & Asia Research Institute, NUS
Dr HU Bei, Chinese Studies, NUS
Dr CHEN Yi-Chiao, Chinese Studies, NUS

This event is hosted by the Translation and Interpreting Research Group within the Department of Chinese Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS).